Can I get a prescription for caffeine?

This week has been a whirlwind. And I'm awfully glad it's a three day weekend. I have a lot of things to accomplish in a very short period of time.

Thursday and Friday proved to be long, but good, days at school. I am learning so much about my students, and it breaks my heart. I started to work on some reader response type questions in a whole group setting this week. In regular person talk, that means that I find moments in the text and I ask them to relate them to their own lives and experiences and share with the class. It's a good way to get kids to start talking/thinking about what they are reading. And through that, I am learning so much about their lives. Things that they aren't even saying...but showing in the way they respond to questions. And it is so, so sad. I suspect that very few of my students have a family like I have, and like Andy has. I suspect that very few of them ever feel the love and support and care that I did growing up. There certainly are some, but probably not more than a handful in each class.

Anyway...I have also decided to scrap my lesson plans for the end of this six weeks. I talked to my department chair (who is in the room next to me...making her my only neighbor in my lonely hallway...and used to teach 9th grade) and we both agreed that this bunch is not ready for Romeo and Juliet yet. So I'm going back to the textbook and figuring out some things this weekend. Because basically after this week, I have no idea what I am doing. It's a good thing Andy gave me a fun present of these.

I also picked up two Extra-Curricular Activities this week. I will be the freshman class sponsor and the English coach for the Academic Super Bowl. I'm not really sure how I picked them up, but I did. I'm excited, though.

At some point, though, I may need one of these.

Last night, though, was pretty low key. I made dinner for some friends from church who had a new baby a few weeks ago. My poor pot pies were not very pretty, but the one we had tasted pretty yummy. The crusts were fallling apart. It turns out I'm not very good at using store bought crust, because I don't have "feel" for it. So I'm better off making my own because I can work it. Then we just relaxed. And I rearranged the living room bookshelf again. I'll post a picture later when I get it all together. Today we are going to a nearby town to do some shopping. We need a wedding gift for next weekend, new gym shoes for both of us, and I could use a few more outfits for school. And then we'll also run to Hobby Lobby, so who knows what I'll get there. And hopefully we'll have dinner out! At a real restaurant!

Old Testament Night at the Cook House

Last night, just before bed, Andy and I both started to read our Bibles. I had no idea what he was reading, he had no idea what I was reading. They didn't fit together in any way. But God gave us a beautiful moment as a couple.

I was reading 2 Chronicles. I have a deep love for the OT books, and I am working my way through each and every one of them. I feel like a whole new world is opened up when you read and study the Old Testament. I just love seeing the pieces of the puzzle fit together. The Old and New Testaments just fit so perfectly. God's Word does not contradict itself. It clarifies itself.

I had read this verse, "Solomon brought Pharaoh's daughter up from the City of David to the palace he had built for her, for he said, "My wife must not live in the palace of David king of Israel, because the places the ark of the Lord has entered are holy." (2 Chronicles 8:11) and was telling Andy about it. At first, we were both kind of laughing, because he was essentially saying, "Hey honey, you need to move. This place is holy, and you just aren't."

But then we started to think about it. And she really wasn't. God had clearly told the Israelites not to marry with women from other nations, but Solomon did. Several times. His wives weren't from God's chosen people and they led him astray.

"As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been" 1 Kings 11:4

That chapter says that Solomon married 700 wives of noble birth, and had 300 concubines. It also goes on to say that Solomon built high places for other the gods of his wives. The high places that his son and his future generations continued to worship at. The high places that tore their affections away from the one true God. God continued to give them chance after chance to repent. They were His chosen people.

At the same time, Andy was reading the book of Nahum. I have never read Nahum. Didn't even know what it was about, to be honest. But I learned last night. It's about the destruction of Nineveh. The very same Nineveh that Jonah was sent to with a warning. They repented then, but later turned back to their sinful ways, and were met with destruction.

As Andy was explaining it to me, I remembered the New Testament passages that talked about Nineveh, and the sign of Jonah. So I looked them up in my handy dandy commentary. And both Matthew 12:41 and Luke 11:32 said basically this:

The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.

We spent a while trying to figure out the timeline, and realized that Nineveh has already been destroyed for hundreds of years when Jesus said this. The People's New Testament Commentary says that Matthew passage talks about Jonah being three days in the belly of the whale just as Christ is three days in the earth after the crucifixion. The Ninevites repented at the preaching of Jonah, but the people Jesus was speaking to did not repent at one who was much greater.

But then, Matthew Henry's commentary on the Luke passage said this: "As Jonah being cast into the sea, and lying there three days, and then coming up alive and preaching repentance to the Ninevites, was a sign to them, upon which they turned from their evil way, so shall the death and resurrection of Christ, and the preaching of his gospel immediately after to the Gentile world, be the last warning to the Jewish nation. If they be provoked to a holy jealousy by this, well and good; but, if this do not work upon them, let them look for nothing but utter ruin"

The people of Nineveh repented at the warning of their physical destruction, but Jesus comes to warn them of impending eternal destruction, and many do not repent. And just as Ninevah was eventually destroyed because of her sin, so shall those who do not repent and accept Christ. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

And that's why I love studying the Bible. Because it does not contradict itself. It explains itself, it clarifies itself. It is the Word of God. And it is truly living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword.

Tuesday, or the longest day in the universe

Somehow, the last two Tuesdays have been terribly tough.


Say that ten times fast.


We English teachers like to call that alliteration.


The emphasis on the t sound provides... nothing, really, but it's fun to pretend.



But I'm exhausted. And I just woke up from a two hour nap. I told Andy I was going to lay down for "a bit" and he came out probably more than two hours later and told me that my nap was too long. So I woke up. And now, as soon as I blow dry my hair, I'm going back to bed.


Tomorrow is picture day, peeps, and I will not be looking like Christina Ricci in Casper in this one (which means I need to get some sleep...you know...for the dark circles).


I'm trying to think of something interesting to say, but I'm not sure there's much there.


My students are funny, in their own strange ways. They take me back. I try to remember if I was this crazy when I was their age. I don't think I was. Some days they make me crazy, but I do so love them. They are learning how to do high school, and it takes some time. It's an exciting time to have them. I feel like I need to be constantly praying for grace in the classroom. It's so easy to frustrated, and that's not what I want.


Andy got me pretty, pretty flowers today for no reason at all. I love it. My old flowers from the start of the school year weren't even dead yet! I just have the sweetest husband.



We have tomatoes coming out of our ears. And the world's largest zuchinni. We're enjoying this garden of ours. I'm thinking about consolidating some next year and adding some flowers, like zinnias, for cutting and arranging throughout the house. I just so enjoy having fresh flowers in the house.

Poor Chicken

This is a tale of woe. A tale about a sad little chicken and his time at the Cook house.

This chicken had sat all alone up in the freezer for several weeks. He had been purchased, and placed on the meal plan many times, but was always passed over in favor of his easier to thaw cousins, the boneless, skinless breast.

Finally, though, the day arrived when the sweet little fryer was to be cooked. The gentlemen of the house had requested that his wife make his favorite, chicken and chorizo quesadillas, for dinner the next night. The lady of the house obliged, thinking it would be much easier for her if the chicken was cooked when she arrived home, thus saving her some time in the evening.

So she pulled our young hero out of the freezer, and left him on the counter to thaw. She asked her loving husband to put him in the refrigerator before he went to bed, because she was going to bed at that moment.

The sweet chicken sat on the counter, waiting and waiting to be put away. Alas, the gentlemen of the house had forgotten. But it was okay. He was really, really frozen.

The next morning, the lady discovered the chicken on the counter and realized what had happened. She checked the chick, and discovered he was still cold, and even somewhat frozen. She intended in that moment to put the chicken into the crock pot, and start him cooking for the day.

But she was running late. In fact, she was already late for a prayer meeting. So she asked the gentlemen of the house to put the chicken in the crock pot. He agreed.

And so our poor chicken continued to sit.

Many hours later, the lady of the house called her husband. It was then that he informed her that he had forgotten about the chicken, that it hadn't been started until much later in the morning. And then, when he had arrived for his lunch a few hours later, the lid of the crock pot had come unsealed.

And so, our poor chicken continued to sit and sit and wait and wait to be properly cooked.

Poor chicken.

He may never be dinner now.

Exhaustion

I want to tell you a secret.

I have been asleep before 10 pm every night this week. Most of those nights were even before 9:30. I'm not sure I'm going to make it to 8:30 tonight. 5:00 might be a struggle. It's okay, though. I'm fine with it. I don't know that Andy is, but I sure am.

This has been a long week. My first full week of the school year. Just 35 more to go. It doesn't help that we've had busy nights, too.

Monday I met MJ at Tapatio's to do our Bible study together. Again, let me just say, that No Other Gods is totally rocking. It's a healthy dose of what I need in my life right now. And while we were there, Alberto, who seems to be becoming our regular waiter, told me I had pretty eyes while MJ was not there.

Thank you, Alberto. Would you like to see my wedding ring?

Just kidding. Really, I just ran out the door. And I'm kind of not joking.

Then last night we had our first soccer practice. This will be my last year of coaching soccer. I just can't muster up the stamina to continue talking and being cheerful after a whole school day...my voice just hurts. Or the patience to teach four year olds how to stand in a line or kick a ball. I could use some serious prayers about my soccer attitude.

But tomorrow, tomorrow will be wonderful....because it's slumber party time! MJ, Christy and I are having our very own slumber party, because our husbands are going to Tennessee to see cars drive in circles this weekend. Personally, I think we have the better deal. I'd much rather have a slumber party than watch cars drive in circles....of course, Andy may disagree.

And then it was the weekend

Friday was my first day of school. And I survived it. With moderately okay colors.

Actually, it was really a good day. It looked kind of like this.

Get to school. Find a present in my backseat from MJ that Andy snuck in the night before. Tear up about the AMAZING friends that I have. She got me salt water taffy (a recent addiction for both of us) and Sour Patch Kids (a longtime addiction for me) and both of her boys colored me a picture, which I hung on my filing cabinet.

Try to get inside the building. Fumble with my wallet trying to pull out my swipey key while surrounded by 20ish students who are locked out.

A math teacher arrives and swipes both of us in. She shows me where to put my key so I don't have awkward swipey moments.

Go up to my room. Think I'm going to throw up about 46 different times. Spend first period getting ready for the day, thankful to have a first hour prep. Make copies. Feel excited I figured out the copy machine with Mariah and Shannon the other day...so I didn't have to curse at it today. Think again how terrible it was that I cursed at the copy machine the other day.

Second hour finally starts. I have a class. They don't laugh at my jokes. They stare blankly at me. Someone falls asleep.

Third hour starts. My computer arrives. I'm trying to teach and talk to the tech guy all at the same time. I think I'm going to lose my mind. This class talks a lot. Too much. They don't stop.

Fourth hour starts. Finally. Lunch is during this period. This class is probably the best so far. They listen when they are supposed to, and they seem really sweet. I quickly eat my lunch and try to figure out how to check my email and do my online attendance. I think to myself that I'm thankful for those ten weeks in first grade last year, because I know how to use the classroom software.

Fifth hour arrives. I'm really sick of hearing my own voice. And saying the same thing over and over and over again. I realize about ten minutes in that I never introduced myself to this class. Oops. I'm going to have to be more careful. I'm starting to lose my voice. This class is rambunctious. I have like five class clowns in this room. They will be fun, but exhausting.

And then it's over. I have bus duty the first six weeks, so I make my way down there. And I'm glad it's over. I call Andy to tell him to expect me to be sitting on the sofa when he arrives home. But I'm not. Instead, I decide to try to learn how to make General Tso's chicken, because I'm a glutton for punishment. And I was craving Chinese food. Of course, maybe I should have just called the Hong Kong Kitchen. It's okay though...it tasted darned good.

I did, however, fall asleep from 6-8 on the sofa in the living room.

And that was my Friday.

Saturday was good too. I got my hair done (which I love). It's a little blonder this time, but I really like it. Andy changed the brakes in his car. How impressive is that? Seriously. I picked some tomatoes and gave them to the neighbors (did I mention that they don't like me, only Andy? and that I need to be liked?) I cleaned the whole house while Andy was on the phone. We had yummy pork chops, corn on the cob, and tomato/onion salad for dinner, hung out for a bit, then went to the late show of The Dark Knight with two other couples we had never really hung out with before and had a blast. I'd love to hang out with them again. I'm so glad they invited us.

And today was pretty relaxed. We had a good SS class, and church was great. We went to Wal-Mart to pick up some pictures I had printed for school. I napped. Andy went with me to school to help me hang up some stuff and see my classroom. And we've pretty much been relaxing since. I have worked on some school stuff. And just had an all around great Sunday.

And then...Bittersweet

Today has been a day. A long one, if you will.

It was my first official day of school. Tomorrow is my first official day with students. I had meetings all morning, and then work time this afternoon. I had a mini meltdown at lunch. But I had recovered my the time I left at 4.

Today was a rough day. The principal at the elementary school passed away on Tuesday. She had been diagnosed with lung cancer just weeks ago, and was still planning to start the school year, just on a limited basis. She was the principal who kept asking me to consider getting certified to teach elementary school. And she recommended me for the job I got. So it just cast a real shadow of sadness over the morning. I was definitely praying for their staff today, and will be tomorrow.

In my building, the drama centered around construction mess, lack of air conditioning, and the last minute hiring of a new 7th grade English teacher. But by the end of the day, the mess was cleaned up enough to start tomorrow, and the new teacher was hired. And we should have air conditioning early next week. So all is well. I am ready enough to get through tomorrow. Possibly even most of next week, really. So things are good.

I could really use a new episode of the The Office tonight. I need to laugh and be entertained. I miss my friends at Dunder-Mifflin. I'm settling for a Gilmore Girls episode on DVD. They help me work better. Seriously. It's how I got through college....psuedo-watching hour after hour of Gilmore Girls as I typed essays and such. I always got better grades when the Gilmores were on. Just watching Rory makes me smarter.

Tuesday, or the longest day of my life.

So yesterday ended up being a doozy. And I am still recovering.

I had new teacher orientation, which lasted from 8-1ish. It was nice to meet the other new teachers, and realize that I was the only female hired on at the high school this year. The men, they bonded quickly over their common love of all things sport-related.

After I left my meeting, I headed over to my classroom where--wait for it--they had turned on the air conditioning! Praise the Lord it's fixed! It wasn't perfect (it takes awhile to cool down a high school that's been un-air conditioned all summer) but it was something, and it was something beautiful. And my room looked much better! I could tell they had been in to sweep it at one point...but apparently some of the funny pipey looking things in my ceiling still aren't finished and they have misplaced the flibbertigibbet they need, so my ceiling tiles are still out, and there's some insulation on the floor. No big deal. I can work around that. I'm flexible. I said so in my interview.

Then Mr. Dad arrived and he and I spent about 3 hours putting up the fabric on my bulletin board (until I broke my stapler not too far in), tried to put up my posters (but I didn't have any way to stick them to the wall), stamped and numbered all 100 some odd textbooks, and brought all of my stuff in from my car and organized my desk. And cleared out my storage closet so I have some space to store stuff. And stowed things in my filing cabinet and such.

Quick note--the quote of the day from Dad:
"Are you going to have another carload tomorrow."
Me:"No, that should be about it. I have a few more little things. But not another carload."
Dad: "Your mother had a carload of plants."

It was probably only funny if you were there.

Then we came home. And I had a suprise! Andy bought me flowers. And he wrote me the sweetest note telling me that he loved me and how proud he was of me as I start my new career. And it was the sweetest thing.

Then Andy came home.

And almost rear ended me.

Because his brakes stopped working. Because the break line rusted through. And so we began the fixing process at 5:15.

And finished at 10.

Because it was ridiculously difficult to find the part we needed. We went to two auto parts stores, a tractor store, a car dealership, and back to the original auto store, where they had something that would work in a pinch.

But Andy is a rockstar. And he finished it. And it works. And all are pleased.

So last night when I crawled (almost literally) into bed, on the brink of exhaustion, I was so, so pleased. It was the happiest I have ever been to see my bed.

And just like that, it was over

I would say that now my summer is over. I have new teacher orientation in an hour and a half. I told Andy last night I was going to try to wake up at my normal wake-up time from last year (5:05am) even though I didn't have to leave until 7:40 instead of 7 (like the rest of the year). That didn't work out so well for me. Apparently getting back into a school sleep schedule will take a bit of work. Instead, I woke up at 6:10. Still not bad, but it will be cutting it close on normal days.

Anyway, after new teacher orientation, I'm going to start work in my classroom, whether it's ready or not. I have some cleaning supplies in my car, so I can wipe stuff down, at least. And my dad is coming down today to help. He'll be here this afternoon, and he's going to stay into tomorrow to help me. Isn't that just the sweetest thing? I'll bet that 25 years ago when he married my mom, he had no idea how many different classrooms he'd end up in over the years. And I'll just bet that 23 years ago when I was born, he had no idea that one day he'd end up helping his baby girl set up her own classroom for her first year of teaching.

Tonight, Andy is going to design my rules poster. I love being married to a graphic designer...he can make me cool stuff! And tomorrow sometime, Mariah and Shannon are coming...and may end up helping me in my classroom. I'm so excited--the three of us haven't spent time all together since before I got married. Maybe even before Shannon got married--and that was two summers ago. I honestly can't remember. Mariah has been here before, but Shannon hasn't. The whole living in Arizona and then moving to Delaware thing makes it a little harder.

Then Thursday is my first official teacher day. And I may or may not be ready for students to start on Friday. I've come to terms with the idea that I may not have my classroom perfectly as I desire come Friday morning. It's been a difficult process, though. I think I'm just too much of a perfectionist.

A series of vignettes

Andy is gone. For the weekend. And I'm out of stuff I can do for school while I'm at home. So I'm free, free as a bird right now. Well. Except that I need to go to the bank and take care of a few things. But, you know. Pretty free. So I'm going to write a few short stories that have brought me great pleasure or laughter recently.

STORY 1: Die toilette

Last fall, when we moved into this house, we knew that the bathroom floor had rotted through, and we needed to replace it. So we did. And all sorts of problems occurred after. The terribly inept man that our realtor recommended had seated our toilet incorrectly...so to make a long story short, every so often our toilet started rocking and leaking all over the floor. We had to re-seat it like once every other month. Andy and I got really good at sitting very gingerly on it, so as not to make it angry.

Wednesday night it started rocking. And leaking. And Mr. Husband got so darned mad that he took the whole thing off the floor and stuck it in the shower. Leaving it so that I could not shower or go to the bathroom. He was planning to call a plumber in the morning, and have them fix it for good. So we left, went to T and MJ's house for dinner as planned and that was that.

Well, I happened to mention that we were san toilet while we were there. And they were rather concerned....because we were eating black beans and brown rice for dinner. So they called up R, a neighbor of ours and a friend from church who knows how to fix everything under the sun. And he came right over and he and Andy and T fixed the problem. The very way it should have been fixed the first time. But peeps--it's fixed! Like for good. And it only cost us a wax ring.

It's a beautiful thing, to look inside your bathroom and see your toilet on the floor as it should be. I am just so, so thankful for the friends we have. God has definitely blessed us with these people.
_______________________________
STORY 2:The book
Last weekend, we were at a wedding in West Lafayette. While we were waiting, I suggested we go check out the little bookstore section that the church had (Lauren, we were at your church). Andy found a book for husbands that he started to thumb through.

He found a section that he stopped to ask me about. It had stated something that most wives would not appreciate their husbands doing and labelled it so.

His response: "But I did that last week."
Me: "I know."
Him:"But I did that last week."
Me: "I know. Weren't you just joking?"
Him: "No, I was being serious."
Me: "You seriously thought I liked that?"
Him: "Yeah. You laughed. And didn't act mad."
Me: "Because I thought you were joking."
Him: "Ashley, I was being so serious."

And we'll just say the conversation went downhill from there. My attitude was far from excellent. I could not believe that he seriously thought I liked what he had done. And he could not believe that I thought he was joking. And we may have had a brief disagreement over it. Now, I'm cracking up. It was just another reminder as to how differently our brains are wired. And we would have never known it if we hadn't found that book.

___________________________________
Story 3:The crazies
Earlier this week, I had to go to Wal-Mart four different times. Twice for school stuff, once for groceries, and once to pick up Andy's glasses.

I could write a novel about how much I hate going to Wal-Mart. It takes a lot out of me. I seriously have to have a recovery period sometimes.

This week required some recovery. Well. Only one visit.

They called to say that Andy's glasses were ready. So about 3 hours after they called, I made my way over to the store to pick them up. But they weren't put together. The lenses were there, but the frames were not attached. So I had to wait awhile.

While I waited, a kid stood and screamed for the entire time. Horrifying, wailing screams. I thought his poor mama was going to cry. She looked pretty frazzled. I was starting to feel a little frazzled too. Then a man came in. And while he was waiting to get his glasses, he proceeded to tell me in very loud and colorful language everything he hated about the self-checkout lane.

For minutes upon minutes.

I avoided eye contact. I didn't give responses. I looked around and tried to hide. Basically, I quenched every ounce of the Holy Spirit within me trying to figure out how to get away from this man.

And he still wouldn't stop.

Louder and louder. More and more vocal. People in the store proper were starting to stare.

I could have kissed the technician when she brought out his glasses.

And that is why I need to move closer to civilization. So I can go to Target instead.
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Story 4: The Knife

I have a favorite knife. It is the only knife I ever use. It was given to me as a bridal shower gift. But the story goes much further than that. It was a deal, made long before I was engaged, that I would get my fancy knife when I got married, and the dear girl would get an avocado slicer when she gets married. Let's just say I've been researching my avocado slicers, and I found the best.

But this isn't about her. It's about me. How self-centered did that sound? Wow. Well, dear girl really came through. She picked out a fabulous knife. And I use it for everything. It's rarely in the drawer. It is almost always in the dish drainer in the sink. Because it gets used at least once a day.

I love using it. Especially in the summer, when we have meals with lots of vegetables. I like to pretend that I am Rachael or Giada just chopping up piles and piles of vegetables to toss into my pan. But recently, I've started using it for even more. Including my steak. Somehow I didn't realize we didn't have any steak knives and haven't done anything to take care of the problem. So I use my big, honking 7 inch knife to cut my itty bitty little steak right at the dinner table (which looks an awful lot like our coffee table). It looks ridiculous. Andy laughs at me. But it works.

I seriously love that knife.

I'm not sure why I shared that story. Just know that I have no shame. I'll tell you all about the ridiculous things I do.

Maybe next week...

So, my mom came down yesterday to help me prepare my classroom for the school year. But we ran into a little problem.

This is what my classroom looked like.

Those desks aren't supposed to be there...I'm supposed to have new desks that have computers in them.

Oh....and those ceiling tiles. They are on the floor. You mean they're supposed to be in the ceiling? Weird.

And here is what all of the storage space in my room looks like.
Those are the old textbooks.

The boxes on top are the new ones. That I need to number and stamp. And record and stuff.

There's my mama, and my desk, and my...ladder. I'll be teaching from that. Just kidding. I'd fall off it and break something.

And here's inside my desk. See that cabinet in a desk? I think this desk was used as a tank in WWII. It makes me giggle bunches. Oh, and those aren't my binders. Or my Pink Panther.

And basically the whole school looked like that.

And they may not have it all done by next week. I heard a rumor that we could be without air conditioning for the first two weeks of the year.

Did I mention that I sweat like mad for the 30 minutes I was upstairs? It was like 85 degrees or higher in my room.

Hello, Water Bottle!

And...I might need a few new outfits for the super hot days. Because I doubt they'll let me wear my birthday suit.

On the bright side, I have this week pretty much off. On the not so bright side, next week is going to be busy. Seconds after we left the building, my mom called my dad to ask if he can come help me next Tuesday and Wednesday. Because my first teacher day is Thursday. And students come to school on Friday.

But I did get to have fun with my mom. I bought lots of fun stuff for my classroom. She bought me a fancy pencil sharpener. We ate yummy tomato basil pizza, looked up stuff on the internet, watched CSI (she knew what happened on every episode that was on....which CRACKED me up), and hit the town running this morning. After we woke up. At 10:00. I'm pretty sure my mom has never slept until 10 in my entire life. And it's been months since I have. It was crazy.

But it was a good two days. Now I'm off to do something. I'm not sure what.

Weekend of Love

This was a busy weekend....but a fun one.

Friday night we spent the night at Andy's parents house. It was so nice to be there again. It's always so relaxing. Andy was wearing an old pair of his dad's glasses (because...did I mention that until his new ones come in, he's wearing safety goggles with his old lenses taped to them...I'll try to take a picture this week. We're becoming more and more hillbilly every week. Well. Maybe not me.) that were identical to the ones he wanted to buy in the store. They looked like Clark Griswold in the original Family Vacation.

Saturday we drove up to our old stomping grounds, the sweet West Lafayette, Indiana. I was determined that we were going to have Chik-Fil-A for lunch...and talked about it the entire drive there. But Andy drove past on accident. And traffic was too busy for us to be able to turn around safely and still make it to the wedding on time. So I had to settle for Arby's. And boy was it unsettling.

But once I got over it, I had a sweet time. We were there for the wedding of this sweet boy (the one on the right...and yes, I forgot my camera, so I'm pillaging old pictures to fill in).

And it was a good one. I so love watching the groom wait for his bride. As each of the bridesmaids walked down, his smile got bigger and bigger. He looked like a five year old opening the best gift ever. Sadly, I missed his face when he actually saw his beautiful bride because someone's head was in the way. It's okay, though. I know he was thrilled.

This was such a special weekend. Todd, the groom, is so dear to Andy and I both. He and his roommate Ike were some of the first young men that I got to see grow and change and shape into godly young men during their college years. Andy was their Bible study leader for their first two years of college, and after he graduated, they stepped up and took over. It was so a God thing that those two ended up as roommates (they knew of each other...but didn't know each other...now they are completely inseparable), and that they ended up in the dorm room right next to Andy.

Sunday I got to go to Bloomington (the home of the worst university in the state..haha) for the bridal shower of this sweet girl:

Of course, that picture was from the summer of 05...when I met her. And before I met the Chi. My sweet, sweet Chi. Oh...and I didn't take a blow dryer overseas. Are you getting the picture? There's a reason my hair looks terrible. Okay...back to Abbey. She was one of my roommates on a summer missions project to Freiburg, Germany, and became a dear, dear friend to Andy and I both. I think we are both much cuter now. Here we are last summer.

And we'll just say that we are even cuter now. I just don't have a picture to prove it. I'll try to get one at her wedding.

She is moving on WEDNESDAY to Waco, Texas. She's starting grad school in psychology at Baylor. It's so sad, but so fun. We are going to start a letter writing relationship. And I might get to see her when I am in San Antonio in November. We're going to try to work it out.

And now, now it's time for me to call the school and see if I can get into my classroom. It's time for Mrs. Cook to start getting down to work.

a lot of times when two people like that get together, it can be explosive.

So. Two weeks is up. And I can finally tell/show you all what happened at our house that fateful Friday night in July.

It started with this.

Then there was this:

And finally, it ended up like this.

Actually, that picture was taken before I took the razor to his head.

So. Yeah. Andy shaved his head. And it was pretty ugly for awhile. But, since I've been out of town so much, I missed a lot of the really bad days. It looks much better now.

I'll try to get some pictures this weekend at the wedding so you can see it now.

Oh...and I just realized that two weeks from today, I will be teaching my first full day with students, and I have nothing in my classroom set up. I need to buy a lot of stuff for my room next week....and get it most of the way set up.