Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful ...

That's right. It finally came tonight. Last night it never did. They called for it, but it didn't happen. I got up a few times to look out the window and check. No dice. Tonight on my way home from my class, however, I enjoyed the sight of big, fluffy flakes of the white stuff, folks. It was sooooo pretty. And thrilling. I was sooo excited. It did lay on the roads a little, but it was too wet to stay. By the time I got home it had stopped snowing and had melted. I almost got sad and THEN I remembered that I now live in Winter Wonderland, USA, and we'd have more before long, so I was just happy inside for the beautiful glimpse I got tonight.

However .... are you ready for this ...

it's supposed to do it again tomorrow, but only for a while and I think it'll be too warm to stay. Hey, I'm enjoying the sight of it. :D

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. * *
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What a Prospect!

Applied for and had the phone interview for another job. A job I really want. It's for an enrollment coordinator position at a study abroad program company called the Education Abroad Network. It's right up my alley. I would be interviewing and selecting the students who get to go and then helping with the travel arrangements and such. The programs for this company are in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. One of the perks of the job is that I'd get to go to Australia for two weeks ... and may be able to take my husband and son with me!!! That would be way, way cool. If it's the Lord's will, I want this job REALLY BAD!!! Anthony was here when I did the phone interview and he said I sounded confident and like I really wanted the job, so it was good to have that feedback. :D

Anywho ... Anthony told me to tell ya'll that you had all better get out and vote for McCain because he's about to lose. Send the message far and wide. ;-) I still wish Huckabee were our candidate, but I guess McCain'll do.

Jackson's been really cute and funny here lately. I let him sit on my lap and showed him how to play the Mickey Mouse game on Playhouse Disney the other day and now he can do it himself. All we have to do is pull it up for him and he takes it from there. Can you believe that? He's not even four yet. It's almost scary, really. He's also starting to learn to read very simple words. He's sounding the letters out and also recognizing some other words by sight reading. Crazy. I am just amazed at how fast he's growing up.

He's got this cute little saying that he says when he wants to do something. He'll say, "Please, mommy, it's got funny on it." It's his way of saying that something is fun or funny. Ha! What a goof! He's also learned that it's funny to blow raspberries. Great.

I've been scrapbooking some lately and that's been fun. Maybe I'll post some pics of my work soon.

Anthony's been playing Christmas music around here this weekend. Put me in the holiday mood and I decided we needed to go Christmas "looking". (Not shopping because we can't do that yet! HA!) I've decided I want a good camera for Christmas. I looked at a few yesterday and am having a hard time deciding. Any suggestions? I think we'll only be able to spend around $200 or so, depending on whether I get a job before Christmas. We'll see. Oh, and we looked at Christmas trees last night. We've got to do a skinny one this year because we live in a shoe box. I won't be able to use my big, pretty tree. (sniffle) But I think I decided I want a white Christmas tree with blue and silver ornaments. Wouldn't that be pretty? I guess we'll see about that, too.

Our first snow tonight!!! It's not supposed to stick, though. But snow nonetheless. Still petrified about winter up here. Ahhhh... I guess we'll get through it somehow.

Shucks!!

Well, we went. And came back very quickly. Anthony and Jackson had been battling a cold for several days and it really seemed Jackson was getting a lot better and Anthony also acted like he was feeling better this morning. But when we got there, I guess Anthony kind of suffered a set back. Maybe it was the chill in the wind or something. The body aches and stuffy head just got to him and we decided to leave. We did look in all the shops, but they were pretty much just crafts and souvenir stuff. We used to really get into that, but recently we decided it's really just stuff we don't need and we opt not to spend our money on it. The homemade quilts we saw were gorgeous, but I didn't see anything I couldn't live without.

We were planning on doing the day trip "Pastport Package" (they spell it that way -- "Past"port). It includes the buggy ride, tour of the Amish home and farm, two short documentary films on the Amish, and the famous Threshers Dinner. Jackson would've been free, but our tickets would've been 25.95 each with my $2 off coupon. I guess with the dinner included, it's not too bad of a price, but we just decided not to spend the money. Anthony wasn't feeling well and Jackson was coughing. I was even starting to get a little bit stuffy. (Now I'm worse with it being night time. Why is it always worse at night?) So we decided to come back when we all were well and more energetic. I was bummed a little bit, but I decided it was better to wait. It'll be more fun when we're all feeling good. ;-) The main reason I was bummed out was because I didn't get very many good pictures. Jackson wouldn't be still for me to get anything of him except for one. Twerpie.

The place was a lot smaller than what the website suggests. I was a little underwhelmed, but then again, we didn't do the touristy things so I don't know if we missed what we would've really enjoyed. We did stop in a little snack shop for hot apple cider, but it was barely lukewarm. HA! Figures.

Before we left, I checked out the hotels there. There are two: The Inn at Amish Acres and The Nappanee Inn. They were pretty nice. I am considering having our Ladies' Retreat there, but it's still a toss-up. I can't say this trip convinced me either way. The Lord knows.

On our way back, Anthony stopped at a Farmer's Market and let me go in for a few minutes while he stayed in the car with Jackson. Wow. I may have enjoyed my time there just as much or more than Amish Acres. There were lots of neat vendors. One Amish family had a beautiful display of furniture and wall hangings. I want one of the hope chests he had. Soooo pretty. I probably spent a little too much time looking, considering my husband and kid were waiting for me in the car. I bought some fresh tomatoes and cucumbers and a big spaghetti squash from one of the farmer's stands and some pumpkin nut bread from one of the Amish families that had bakery goods. Mmmmm... We had some tonight and it was delicious. I also made a salad with our supper and used one of the tomatoes and cucumbers. They were really fresh and flavorful. Yum!

I forgot to tell about last weekend. My husband actually was in the mood to play games!! (Happens about two or three times a year, so I jump on it when it does.) :D We played the short version of Monopoly (whatever it takes to get him to play) and he beat me mercilessly. Doesn't matter. It was still lots of fun. I was very happy.

Thursday was interesting. I was scheduled to sub for a middle school math teacher. I dropped Jackson off at preschool and showed up ready to work. But for some reason my name wasn't on the sub list. So the secretary called the sub coordinator and I guess she had made a mistake, so the school had a teacher who they said didn't have a sub so they sent me to his science classroom instead. I made my way down to Mr. Weirich's room and there were three teachers sitting there meeting about something. I introduced myself and told them I was supposed to sub that day for Mr. Weirich and one of the teachers started laughing. "No, you're not," he said. I looked at him and said, "You're Mr. Weirich, aren't you?" Yep. He was. Again, the sub coordinator had goofed. His personal day was supposed to be for the next week, not that day. So he walked me down to the office and they told me they didn't need me, apologized for the mistake, and said I would still be paid! Wow. I never would've dreamed they'd still pay me! But that's good because I had used the gas to get there and spent the money on Jackson's preschool for the day. So I went and did something I've been putting off for too long ... I went and got my Indiana driver's license NOT having studied for the test.

I told the lady that if I failed (which by that point I was pretty sure I was going to) that it was because EVEN THOUGH THIS WAS THE FOURTH STATE I'VE LIVED IN, I hadn't had to take a driving test since I was 16!!! Had to cover my tracks, you know. She laughed and wished me luck. So I was allowed to miss six of the multiple choice and only 2 of the signs in order to pass. I put little tick marks next to the ones I thought I had wrong and I handed in my paper sure I had failed. I thought I had missed only about four of the multiple choice, but FOUR of the signs. Nope. I missed two!!! Total!!!! I missed none of the signs!!!!! HA!!!! Not having studied. My husband only missed one on his BUT HE STUDIED!!!! HA HA HA HA!!!! He was so sure I was going to fail because I hadn't studied. Even scolded me for not studying and said I'd waste time and gas when I went to take the test. But he was wrong, and as Chonda Pierce would say, "I think that's hilarious!"

Alright. I guess I ought to get these pics uploaded and go to bed. Getting pretty sleepy.

Anybody remember Shotgun Red?

"Good night. Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite. If they do, hit 'em with a shoe and say, "I don't wanna sleep with you!" HA!

Wahooo!!!!

Anthony decided to take us to Amish Acres in Nappanee today. It's only 22 miles from us and we haven't been yet. The cheaper gas prices, I'm guessing, helped prompt this impromptu trip.

;-P

Got my coupons printed and my camera ready with new batteries. We're ready to go!!!!

I'll post pics when we get home.

:D Yippeeee!!!!

Quilts

I guess I've been nostalgic lately, but I thought I'd post this picture of a baby quilt that my grandma made for Jackson when he was born and one that my grandma made for me when I was in college. I love them both, but Jackson's has a special origin. The embroidered blocks were actually originally on a baby quilt that my grandma had made for me when I was born. Then when I had Jackson, she took the embroidered blocks and reset them in blue alternating blocks for a boyish look. I love that! She has the neatest ideas. These are Campbell's Soup kids. I think they were really popular in the 70's when I was born. THE LATE 70s ... '77 to be exact!!!! (I'm not that old.) ;-)
Can't have Campbell's Soup kids without one of them making tomato soup!! :D

My college quilt is also one of my treasures. I love that it's so colorful and cheerful and I think the puffy blocks are neat. I took a close-up of my favorite blocks so you can read the words. I don't know why I can't figure out how to post pictures that can be clicked on for enlargement. Anybody have any ideas of what I my be doing wrong?

And here are some pictures of the apartment community in early autumn splendor. It won't be long before we have full-blown color. The pictures don't do it justice, though. I WANT A NEW CAMERA FOR CHRISTMAS!!!! A good one. You know, every mom should have a good camera. No exceptions.

Well, I said some pictures, but one of them got booted off the post when I added some other pics. Grrrr....

I subbed some again last week. First grade at two different schools. On Tuesday I subbed for a first grade class at Chandler Elementary. It was a sheltered English classroom so all of the students were Hispanic, but they all spoke and understood English really well. They were soooo cute and sweet. And well-behaved. That teacher must've really trained them well from the get-go. And the environment was wonderful. The entire school seemed really calm and quiet and in good order. I don't think I've ever experienced anything quite like it, but it was great. Then on Wednesday and Thursday I subbed for a first grade class at Prairie View. DIFFERENT STORY!!! The kids here were wild and unruly and constantly picking and fighting with each other It was amazing the difference between the two schools. I liked to pulled my hair out with the group I had. I was told that I had a difficult group when I first got there. Well, THAT was an understatement! I had several kids who liked to fight with each other. And there were two little girls who were bossy and tried to tell all the other kids AND ME what they should be doing at all times. I had two pouters who would squall when they didn't get their way. It was ridiculous and I was sooo glad to see 2:35 on Thursday. I didn't sub Friday, so Jackson and I stayed home and played games and read books. Good day. :D

Jackson's still enjoying preschool. I think it's good for him to get to be with other children and even another adult besides me. I really like his preschool, too. It's run by a church and the teachers seem very caring. And they run a tight ship, which is important for Jackson. He definitely needs the structure. The director, I can tell, is strict but loving. I get very good vibes from her. They have daily Bible stories and art time. On Thursday he got to bake with one of his teachers!!! That's so cool. Home Ec at an early age! ;-) They made a snack for Monday when they go on a "pretend field trip" with Christopher Columbus in search of something. Isn't that neat? They also have music where they learn children's Bible songs and early reading where they learn their letters and sounds and such. Jackson already knows his letters and sounds, but it's good review for him. I thank the Lord that he helped me find this particular school.

Well, I didn't get the job I interviewed for on Monday. That's alright. That means it wasn't God's will and I'm constantly praying for God's will. I applied for another one on Thursday. It's an enrollment coordinator for a study abroad company. It sounds like it's right up my alley, it's just down the road a ways from Anthony's hotel, and it pays pretty well. We'll see what happens.

Well, I need to get going. Have a great day, all, and God bless.

Tea Towels

First of all, I don't know if everybody missed the post of my cousin's new baby girl, but she's gorgeous. Scroll down and take a look. ;-)

And here are the pictures of some tea towels my grandma made for me when I got married. Aren't they cute? Sister Smith said she was working on some right now so I dug mine out to take pics of mine. (They were in storage so they're a little wrinkly.)

She also made a quilt for me that I'll show off some time. And several baby blankets for Jackson. They're so cute. My favorite is one that she took the blocks from a quilt she'd made for me when I was born and reset them in blue for a quilt for Jackson. I'll have to show those, too.

I subbed today and Jackson went to preschool. And wouldn't you know it? The kid's been with me since late May so I thought it'd be hard this morning dropping him off. Nope. Gave me a hug and went on his merry little way, ready to start the day!!!! I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped. But I was glad that he didn't cry (even though my feelings were a little hurt). Silly mom stuff. Why are we like that, girls? But to add insult to injury, when I came to pick him up, he threw a fit. Did NOT want to leave!!!! How do you handle THAT as a mom?

And tomorrow I guess I'm subbing for a Middle School PE class. Ugh! PE is NOT my cup of tea. (The rhyme wasn't intentional.) And I'm not too crazy about middle school, either, but, hey, it's only for the day so I'll get through it.

Welp, I've gotta' go. There's a couple loads of laundry and a very messy little boy's room calling my name. Have a good evening, all.