I Need an Apple!

I used to eat at least two apples a day --- one at breakfast and one at lunch. Somedays, more. I quit a few weeks ago, not out of any particular reason.

And, wouldn't you know, no apple a day to keep the doctor away, so his office is where I found myself this afternoon.

Thankfully, it is not the flu.....but it is bronchitis. I'm now on five medicines to counteract my lack of apples! You can guess what I'll be putting back in my lunchbox starting tomorrow!

Piers

I LOVE the beach. (Which you already know if you read my previous post.) And, I LOVE piers. So does Ron and we never miss a chance to take a pier walk when at the beach. It is one of those wonderful little pleasures that we very much enjoy.

When I got up this morning I went for a walk on the Springmaid Beach Pier and it was beautiful. I love the sea air on the pier. I love the fisherman. I love the birds. I love the way the waves lap up against the beams. I love that it is wooden. I love the fact the wood is worn and gray from salt and water and people. And, that was, this morning, my revelation. It is comforting that piers are made of wood. It shows that we still have faith in nature to build a structure out over the ocean from wood instead of concrete.

And, I LOVE piers. I LOVE that comforting.

Harmony.....And Disharmony

That was the theme of the weekend. I left after school yesterday to head to Myrtle Beach for the final sessions of the Teaching American History in SC class that I started last summer. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was lots of fun (we had some very informative sessions), I won two door prizes (a primary source reader on World War I and the hardback "Reflections of SC"), got goodies (a copy of "Shagging in the Carolinas", a set of primary source documents for World War I, SC playing cards and a CD with all of the elementary lessons on it), heard some great speakers (one on "harmony and disharmony, southern influence in music" and one on "shagging in the Carolinas") and relaxed.

I arrived in Myrtle Beach after one call to Ron (that resulted in a U-turn to get on I-95) and lots of iPod music! The theme of going was Corey Smith's "Carolina" and "Every Dawg" ---- both of which never fail to make me smile. Ron called right as I was heading off of 501 and the person in the car in front of me was taking my picture?!?! Crazy!! I decided to just follow Ocean Blvd. down to Springmaid, where we were staying because I really wanted to see the ocean. I LOVE the ocean.

Once I checked into my room I headed off to our opening session for dinner and speaker. Afterwards, I experienced one of my most enjoyable evenings in a long time. Guess what I did??? Nothing!! I called Ron to say goodnight as I got back to the room (and gave him a little scare until I assured him I was on the third floor....I had propped open the balcony door to hear the ocean) and then, instead of turning on the TV or my iPod, I let the ocean be my music while I read. I finished "Rich in Love" to the tune of crashing waves and the occasional laughter of the church youth group playing games on the beach. It was so wonderful. When I went to bed (I closed the door!) I slept like a baby...I only woke up a few times, and each time I could still hear the ocean. First thing this morning, I headed out to the balcony to watch the earliest sunlight before starting the day. It is absolutely amazing how relaxing it is without a TV, computer or radio/iPod. Maybe I need to try it more often! It was definitely harmony!

After gathering everything up and loading my car, I walked out to the Springmaid pier (which I will post about seperately), bought a few things for the boys, had breakfast and spent the rest of the day in sessions before heading home.

It was hard to leave the beach. Like I said, I LOVE the beach. But, I was glad to get back home to Ron, the boys and Maggie. And, in case you were wondering, I put my iPod in right before Conway and took in off once, as I was getting on I-20 Ron called. I came home with some Aerosmith, some Guns 'N Roses, some Johnny Cash, but fitting with the weekend's lecture on southern music, it was Marshall Tucker and "Can't You See?" that drove me the last bit home.

Seeing the Girls!

Several weeks ago some friends that I taught with last year and I set up a girl's date to meet for lunch at Fatz in Clinton (it is about the same distance for all of us). It seemed like it was WAY off when we scheduled, but it got here today --- really quickly!

As it turned out I had a job fair interview with a school district pop up for this morning and then I drove Ron's car (see next post!) to meet them. It was so good to see Suzy, Wendy and Nancy and catch up on everything going on with them and at my old school. I think we all agreed that we need to do this more often!

Suzy and Wendy

with Nancy....

....with Suzy

....and, with Wendy....I MISS teaching with these ladies!

Colonial Christmas and Crafts!

Today we took the upper elementary students to the Lexington County Museum....it was FABULOUS! I can't wait to go back and really explore as we did two programs (which were free for our classes courtesy of the Lexington-Richland Cultural Council!) and only saw two of the houses. I am so amazed by the vast cultural and historical offerings in the Midlands....it is heaven for a history-buff! :)


Our first program visited a 1770s era cabin (which was the size of my living room and housed a family of 18...talk about crowded spaces!) where we saw every day items they would have used, games they would have played, how they made clothes and then we made our own candles!

my candle......

The second program took us into the John Fox house from 1832. This was the Christmas program so we looked at the traditional (and natural) decorations that would have been used in that time period and then we actually went and MADE our own decorations! We made popcorn strands and apple/clove pompadors (?) for the tree at school, a gum-drop tree and cinnamon stick and clay ornaments for our own trees.


This was a wonderful field experience for the students and teachers!

Sunday of Awards!

Our school's director received a call on Thursday that I had been selected as the VFW Post 4262 Teacher of the Year! This is to recognize excellence in teaching --- particularly citizenship and US history. They invited us to an "awarding" for today and Ron, the boys and I met Victoria and her son, Natondi there. After a terrific meal (chicken, ham, mac and cheese, corn, green beans.....some good ole country cooking!), I was presented with a check by the Post. $$ = YEA!! The post folks were very nice and I turned in a scrapbook for the district judging, which was taking place today. (In the photo I am pictured with the Post Commander and Post President)

Then this evening, we joined Ben's soccer team for the fall banquet at a local pizza place where he received his trophy for the season.

It was quite a day for us!

Book Fair Week

Our school is having a book fair right now and this week had several special days for it. On Monday was hat day, Tuesday was breakfast with family, Wednesday was character dress up, Thursday was lunch with family and Friday was "spirit" day. I didn't manage to get a picture of me and Ben on spirit day, we matched in our Carolina jerseys, but we did get a dress-up day picture before school. Just in case you are wondering, Ben is Jack from the Magic Treehouse series and I am Fern from "Charlotte's Web".

After Dinner Stop

I needed to pick up a prescription and I decided to stop by Le Bag Lady to look at the Vera Bradley selection on the way to Walgreens. I really wanted a wintry patterned wristlet I had seen a few weeks ago and had all intentions of getting it. Well, that turned out a little more differently than I planned.... While talking to Arianna, the sale associate that we always purchase from, I mentioned having just gotten a new camera. I pulled it out to show and her and she recommened the new "tech case" to match my purse and wallet. It is the perfect fit for my camera and it has the wristlet band so that I can carry just my camera like I like to do! I am so excited about this!

After I paid we were waiting on her to show us pictures of her adorable new nephew when I noticed something else in the case. Being a Phi Mu, lions ALWAYS catch my eye and when I saw this adorable lion head purse, I just knew that I had to have it. Ron agreed! And, so I added a new lion to my collection. Hopefully, we'll have a Phi Mu event to attend soon so I can show it off! (Although it looks a litttle gold in the picture, its actually a polished silver with crystal eyes and a handle and chain for carrying....beautiful!)

Serious Emergency!!!!

It happened at the zoo yesterday. I took a picture and then the next one looked really strange. So, I checked the settings....it was on "nighttime". I tried to change it back to auto and no go. The camera setting is stuck at "nighttime" when the wheel is set on "auto".....now it will change to "sport" and "nighttime", but "auto" is stuck....100%. I finally succeeded in wearing out another camera.

I called Ron afterschool to let him know about this emergency and so he took me camera shopping last night. This was an unexpected purchase for the weekend as I had already asked for a new camera for Christmas and thought I had a couple of months to research. I was torn on wanting a small, point and shoot (I sometimes got tired of carrying around the "big" camera when going places) or a really nice, lensed camera. I opted on a point and shoot since I'm not sure what I want in a really, nice lensed camera and I need something portable. Not to mention, Ron pointed out that I get a new camera about every 18 months......if I'm going to carry it everywhere he preferred to not spend quite as much on it. And, it had to take SD memory cards since I have two and didn't want to buy new ones yet and it had to have "image stabilization".

So, after a fiasco at Circuit City where the guy refused to look for the camera I wanted, instead trying to upsale me and then finally looking for the one I wanted and they didn't have it, we headed next door to Target where I picked out this one:

It is the Kodak EasyShare V1003. I've been pleased as a whole with my other Kodak and wanted to stick with the same brand on this purchase. The V1003 offers 22 different settings and since I'm not looking to worry with ISO, manual, etc. this should suffice until I delve in to the BIG camera purchase down the road. (Ron says maybe my anniversary/birthday next July.) This one was affordable, but no so expensive that I won't feel bad if I wear it out and have to get a new one next year! I'm mostly thrilled that my picture taking has not been disrupted by lack of camera! (By the way, funny enough, I was going to use my old Sony that Clay has to take his picture before the party last night....go figure, it broke, too....must have been a bad day for cameras in our house!)

Taking the Kids to the Zoo

It rained yesterday. And, we took a field experience (like a field trip from our day) to the Riverbanks Zoo. It was cold, it was wet, but it was really fun. We had a great time traipsing through puddles to see the animals, who by the way were out and loving the rain, and attending education sessions. The day only brought one little problem...which I will blog about seperately.

I can't post of my pictures on here because of the students in them, but I thought I'd share a few of my favorites. Picture 1: the gorillas got into a fist fight while we were watching! The kids LOVED it! Picture 2: My favorites....the lions!

This was trip 2 to the zoo this week. Trip 3 will either be tonight or tomorrow night.

Fun Afternoon

I just wanted to say what a fun afternoon I had today. My friend Stephanie e-mailed and asked if I'd like to get together and we decided to meet at Barnes and Noble. It was so nice to sit, chat and relax with a girlfriend on a Thursday afternoon over mocha and scones!

Thanks, Stephanie! I had a great time and I'm looking forward to our next "girl's only".

15 Years Ago Today.....

...I was wondering if Ron really would come pick me up and take me out on a date. He finally called late in the afternoon to let me know he'd pick me up in an hour or so. And he did. He picked me up in his new Saturn (one of the two reasons I agreed to go out with him), took me to Milliken for snacks and duck-feeding, and then to the Piedmont Interstate Fair where Phi Mu was having a "social" with the Pi Kapps (the other reason I agreed to go with him was that I happened to be broke and couldn't afford to go....he offered to pay, I went.)

He bought me a string bracelet (which I still have) and visited the crystal ball lady who told him that we'd never work out and I was wrong for him. (Not sure what else she told him, he's never really told me.) Just goes to show what she knew.....15 years, 2 kids, 1 Maggie-dog, a move to Columbia and a LOT of good times later, we're still together!

Happy 15th anniversary of our first date, Ron!! I should have known that night what I was getting into...hahahaha! But, I guess I was already too in love! :)

Hanging In There

Well, it has now been almost two full weeks of being sick. I've barely been able to talk for a week now and this seems to have no plans of leaving my body anytime soon. :( But, other than coughing, being exhausted from coughing, and not being able to talk, I feel better...hahaha!

I am supposed to go to Spartanburg tomorrow night for a wedding, but I facebooked the bride this morning that I may not make it. I'm not sure I am up for a 3-hour round trip drive and 3 or so hour wedding. Not to mention, I don't want to hack through the entire thing.

Back to work for me....hopefully by my next post I'll be my good old self....well and ready to go!

(By the way --- Ron's eye is much better! At least one of us is on the mend!)

Day at the Doctor

We literally spent today at the doctor. Last night I started feeling even worse again, sore throat and coughing like crazy. So, I told Ron that I would take Ben to his soccer pictures and then go on to a doctor. Ron mentioned that his eye was bothering him.

Well, I did take Ben for pictures and then spent the next three hours at the "doc in a box" as we call them. The diagnosis: strep throat. Ron called while I was checking out and continued to complain about his eye. When I got home, I took one look and told him to get in the car. His eye was swollen shut, oozing and red, red, red.

Back to the "doc in the box". This time, after another couple of hours and blood work for Ron, the diagnosis: pink eye.

We got our meds and came home to watch (for me)/sleep-listen(for Ron) to football. What a great way to spend our Saturday :(

Another Friday Feast

Every couple of months we are encouraged to have a "family feast" in our classrooms. Today my class had our first feast and we had a great time, though I couldn't really talk to anyone. Luckily one of my moms and dads were the "mouthpieces" passing out directives.

It was made even sweeter because Ben's teacher allowed him to come and join us! He was so excited to get hot dogs, Doritos, Coke and Oreo Pie for lunch instead of the usual PB&J. And, of course, he thought he was special getting to sit with the Upper Elementary "boys".

Stupid Is As Stupid Does --- But Stupid Sure Can Be Fun!

Okay, granting that I've been sick all week. We had tickets for the USC/Kentucky game for last night. School might not want me to infect 100 kids, but you can guarantee that for Gamecock football, I don't mind infecting 80,000 football fans. That said, last night was not one of my brightest moves, but I had a TERRIFIC time!

Ron got home about 5 and took a shower, changed clothes and we headed back downtown. After a half an hour of looking for parking we finally found a spot. As we hiked towards the staduim we saw a cool triple rainbow over the stadium and about five seconds later the bottom fell out of the clouds ---- torrential downpour. We grabbed a Monster Energy drink from the Monster Crew and then headed to Ron's vendor's tailgate. We huddled under their tent, Ron ate some chicken and we chatted with some folks.

We braved the monsoon to head to the other side of the stadium to get inside before "2001".

It was insane! People were all over the place going in every direction. And, then all of the old people were huddled around the tunnel entrance because they didn't want to get wet! We found our seats which were four rows from the field on the 50 yard line. We were right there, but because of where the seats were, we had to stand the entire game.

Ron and I had the best time!!! I was determined to not scream and yell because of my throat, but after missing the first major play (an interception and immediate touchdown) for a potty break, I gave up and am suffering with NO voice today (my kids loved that!).

We had the funniest people around us. On the other side of me were about 10 Kentucky fans. One of them wanted to be a smart alec and after a bad play yells out, "This ain't South Carolina State, boys!" Well that set off the Carolina fan two rows behind. He was in the guys face for the rest of the game. Then, the two guys behind us brought in their own mini bottles and mixed drinks the entire game. And, then for the entire game yelled, "Welcome to South Carolina. That's how we roll up in here!" I told Ron that I would be repeating that one in my head for days. The people in front were very calm, but the lady next to Ron....wooohoooo! She was so drunk she could barely stand and decided that she wanted to be Ron's bud. She kept talking to him and asking him questions. I giggled forever about it. We laughed and laughed about all the people.....they were as entertaining as the game.

We stayed until the very end and didn't have any traffic issues at all --- except we got caught at a 15 minute train. All in all, we had the best evening and can't wait for the next game! It is well worth the fact that I can't talk above a whisper today.

Staff Retreat

I just got back a couple of hours ago from our staff retreat. What a great time! And, what a great staff!! We had the best t ime hanging out with each other, doing the ropes courses and just being together. We were at Camp Gravatt in Aiken, away from the school and the usual back-to-school pressures for a day and a half. We did personality testing, low and high ropes, and lots of talking and even more laughing :)

Me and Terri on the ride to camp

We did it! Our first low ropes activity...balancing the boat!

Walking the tight rope with Chris and Victoria as my spotters.

Me and Stephanie being silly at the campfire....we learned our personality style was "beaver" earlier in the day and we stuffed our cheeks with marshmallows to become "beavers"!

Stephanie is ready for the high ropes! I had a migraine during the night on Monday and decided to not go up on the high ropes.

Last Day of Class

Today was our last day of class. It was a wonderful learning opportunity and I made some great friends, but I was very glad to be done! I was so tired from being in class all day each day and then coming home and working on my lesson plans....which I am very excited about. My first lesson looks at the child labor issues in the early textile mills of SC and my second lesson is a week long study of the mill village and mill village culture that began in the early 1900s.

Anyway, we had our last lecture and our last session with the master teacher in the carriage house at the Robert Mills House. I learned that the original carriage house was the very first building for the original Winthrop College in Columbia. I never knew that Winthrop starte dout in Columbia! I learned something today :) After our session we were introduced to the Historic Society of Columbia and then treated to a look at the currently not-open to the public Woodrow Wilson House, where the former President lived while in Columbia. Although it needs much restoration and work, it is obvious that this was once a beautiful home.

The icing on the cake today, I won a door prize!!! And, it was exactly what I have been wanting.......a copy of Walter Edgar's South Carolina Encyclopedia!!!!!!! (Thanks, SCDAH, from me AND RON! He's thankful for the $75 you saved him. ) I also received a copy of a text about former US First Ladies.

Behind the Scenes

The last two days' classes have met at the SC State Museum. On Tuesday we were treated to a "behind the scenes" tour of the collections. I guess I never really thought about the fact that the museum keeps thousands of items in storage for possible exhibits. It was very neat to see.

one of the storage rooms (that funky machine in the front is a hair-perming machine...I think I would just go with straight hair!)I found this really fascinating...an iron lung. I've heard of these, but didn't know what one looked like. Now I know!

Today we toured the WWI exhibit with Fritz Hamer (I can't remember his exact title, but he's head of the curation dept. I think). I am working on my two lessons that are going to center on "textile mills in SC" -- one on child labor and one on the community of the village -- and he's working with me on some primary sources.

the textile exhibit at the museum...I hope to use this as a field experience with my students as part of the lessons I'm drafting

Two more days to go!!!!

Today's Class

Okay, I know that you don't want a daily blow-by-blow of my class that I'm taking, but today I was particularly excited and wanted to share. After watching a grueling amount of "The Birth of A Nation" (silent movie...enough said?) we had a "visit" from Ben Tillman (performed by a professor from Francis Marion University) and then a tour of the archive stacks. WHOA!! Too cool!!

We saw a document signed by John Locke, school reports from the late 1800s, a decree prior to the Revolutionary War and the sucession of SC document. It was a slightly thrilling (and very National Treasure) feeling to be in the "stacks" and viewing these actual, historical documents.

On a side, non-class related note, tonight I attended the prospective member meeting for the Edventure Discovery Council. I had a great time and it was so nice to finally be out in a social setting! I'm looking forward to getting involved.