May Days

Oh boy, where to begin... I attended a lovely Tinkerbell birthday party for my 4-year old friend, Bronwen. It was wonderful! I also got to visit with one of my bestest friends, Jenny. We had a great afternoon of girl time. Well, her husband, T.J., was there too. Haha :) I'm so happy they are back in NC.

May is always concert month. My Spring Concert was on the 19th, and it went great! We had a movie themed concert, so the orchestra played "Alice in Wonderland", "The Chronicles of Narnia", and "Pirates: At World's End". I am very proud of them. The chorus was the second 3/4 of the concert. I had several students with solos. I learned that walking the chorus on and off the stage every other song does not work. Ooops! It made for a long concert, but they did a great job.

The following Saturday I went to a baby shower for Andrea, a great friend of ours. Brief history: Matthew grew up in Hendersonville and played in several small ensembles. He and Andrea are good friends. Andrea went to App and Matthew (and I) went to UNCG. He used to go visit her, and she used to visit him. Therefore, I met Andrea in Greensboro. OK. Andrea returns to Hendo and begins teaching orchestra at Rugby Middle and West High. Matthew and I move back to Hendo. After a couple of years, she is put full time at the middle school and calls me to apply at for the high school job. The rest is history! Small world, huh? Anyhoo, I had a great time at the shower, and I even won a prize because I had the poopy diaper. Ha! We are very excited for her and her husband (who is going to be the cutest daddy).

My National Board stuff still required an assessment test. It is a 6 part test with each part being 30 minutes. I had 9:00am on the brain and needed to show up at the testing center 30 minutes early to sign in. What do I do? I got there at 8:15am. My test was scheduled at 9:30am. No big deal. It was at Biltmore Park so I walked around. It was a beautiful morning. I found a table to sit at and study a little bit. A little before 9:00, I walked back up. I am not able to discuss the test but the first part kicked my tail! I glanced down, started typing, and before I could blink the 5-minute warning popped up. My morning and test whizzed by in no time. I will not find out the results of everything until November!!! At least it is completed.

I enjoyed the rest of the day with a pizza and beer at Brixx. B&N was across the street so I had to go. I exhibited some great self control. I only bought 3 books.

Now here we are, Memorial Day weekend. We have school Monday because of snow days, but we have an assembly which my students will play some patriotic music. Thanks to all the men and women who have served! Happy Memorial Day!

Flowers, rain, and yard work

As the spring season continues, more and more flowers in our yard are beginning to bloom. Matthew has two beautiful rose bushes, and this one is full of flowers!

Miles decided he wanted to be in a photo. Actually, I was trying to get a picture to show how big he is!

The weekend was short but good. I spent Saturday with my dearest friend, Jenny, to help celebrate her oldest daughter's 4th birthday. On the way home, I stopped in Shelby to check on a tree that fell across mom and dad's driveway. Here is the storm I was about to drive into.


It's too bad I didn't document my tree moving accomplishment. I had a chain which I wrapped around the tree and wrapped the other end around the ball on my hitch. I successfully freed the tree so I could shimmy it to the side of the driveway.

Today was exciting because Matthew and I purchased a new lawn mower. In my 33 years, I have NEVER been on a riding mower. I have pushed mowed since I was 8 years old.

Matthew did a little mowing, and I cleaned up two piles of leaves which were composting themselves under our porch. Actually, they were part of our garbage can corral. The weather has been so nice, and I was thrilled to work outside today. I managed to crank the 4-wheeler, fill the trailer with leaves (twice), haul it to a compost pile (twice), unhitch the trailer, and park the 4-wheeler in the barn. I also worked on painting the downstairs spare bedroom. I will get some pictures when it is finished. Right now it is a mess. I was able to park the new mower behind the 4-wheeler in the barn. Yay!

Now I am off to finish supper. I love a Crock Pot. I have a roast which is perfectly cooked. I have left over rice, and all I need to cook is the cabbage (with some chorizo!). Happy May!

Silly Kitties

So my kitties were being silly earlier this week. Saturday night we let all of them outside, Moldy, Miles, and Dizzy. Later that night Miles and Dizzy came back inside for bedtime, but Moldy stayed out. This is not uncommon. She will take her time sometimes scratching on our door at some wee hour or two minutes before the alarm is set.

The next morning, there was no Moldy. She stayed out for three days and two nights making me worry by late Monday. Finally at around 10:30pm she reappeared. Whew! I hugged and loved on her, and she wanted food. Don't worry, she did not go hungry while outside. She is a hunter. That is all I will say.

With Moldy back inside, it was time to let the kittens, Miles and Dizzy, out. Miles is usually a fraidy-cat, no pun intended, but he has enjoyed chasing grasshoppers. I need to catch a picture of them chasing grasshoppers. It is soooo cute. They squat in the grass, wiggle their hiney, and then pounce. The are growing up!

I called the kittens before bed and no sign of them. I called several more times and still nothing. This is not totally strange, but it was a little. At no point during the night did they come scratching on the door.

Wednesday, I still could not find them. Before I went to bed, I went out with the flashlight and called them. I was going to check the barn when I heard a galloping thump thump. I opened the door and there were their sweet little faces. I scooped them up and hugged and kissed on them. I carried them back to their basement. I checked them for dehydration, and they were fine! We can't figure out how they got stuck. The door was probably left open a crack, they finagled their way inside, and then the wind blew it shut.

We just can't let everybody out at the same time because that is when Moldy will disappear for an extra night. Matthew has accused her of taking on another family. The kittens will not be kittens for much longer. They are 11 months old, and Miles is as big as or bigger than his sister. Dizzy is getting fluffier. He is so handsome with his yellow-green eyes and white chest hair. Miles has a more sleek fur. The individual hairs are striped. It's pretty cool. I still can't believe we have three cats. Silly kitties.

Back To Cooking!

For those who know me, you know I have a fondness for cooking. There is just something cool about the process of adding spices or deciding to not add a spice. I sometimes follow recipes, and I sometimes add a twist. Either way, it sure feels good to be cooking again. I have been too tired these last couple of months, and Matthew has been a trooper eating whatever sandwich or snack concoction I came up with for the evening.

Tonight's fair with be Beef & Noodle Toss from the April issue of Better Homes & Garden.

This was very easy and quite delicious. :)

Spring has Sprung

I came home and spied this little fellow perched on his web built across the petal.

I'm Back!

On Tuesday, March 29th I mailed off my little blue National Board box. I had a good friend go with me. I checked, double checked, and triple checked that everything was in the box. Surprisingly, I was not too reluctant in handing it over to the UPS man. I was quite relieved!

We had a lovely lunch at Blue Sky Cafe, and then did some fun shopping. I returned to school for a rehearsal of "Fame" since it opened that week. Wednesday morning I went with 7 students to our local news station, WLOS, for a segment about our show. One of the anchors interviewed me briefly, and then the kids sang one the songs. I wish I could see the video, because I didn't know what to do! I sat there smiling, she talked, asked me a question, and I just stared at her for a sec.... but I got through it, and I had several kids at school say, "Hey, Mrs. King! I saw you on T.V. this morning!"

I had not realized how much that blue box had been weighing me down! Apparently I was a totally different person for 2 or 3 months, and I did not see Matthew very much for that last month. My students had noticed, too.

Working on National Boards is a rewarding process. While I was stressed and not being my usual self, I was doing a lot of reflecting on my teaching. It is very humbling, and a lot of times I thought I was a terrible teacher. I feel like I found my mojo again. It is up to the people who read my stuff to decided whether I pass. Analytical writing is not my forte because I have trouble explaining why I do something. (Haha?)

Anyhoo... I still have the assessment test to take on May 25th. This is after my Spring concert, and I will miss school that day.

Meanwhile, I have one week of school then SPRING BREAK!!! I am looking forward to that very much. Matthew did a wonderful job helping with the everyday chores, and my deep cleaning weekends were thrown by the wayside while I was busy writing and rehearsing. I will spend my break cleaning, reading, and having fun. Mom and dad are going to come up one day to see the Biltmore flowers. Matthew's birthday is that week, and his brother's girlfriend's birthday, too. There will be a big gathering at the King Ranch.

All in all, it feels good to me, again!!!!! :)

Almost Finished!

So, it is half way through March, and I am almost finished with National Boards! I took a personal day (paid for by NBPTS) and worked at the public library from 10am until 5:30pm. I did get an hour lunch break with Matthew during that time. I managed to get two entries written and a third started.

I had my umbrella which I used to walk the two blocks to meet Matthew for lunch. When I returned to the library, I left my umbrella just outside the entrance with two other umbrellas. Yup... you see where this is going... I wrote an entry, gave myself a break, and worked on another entry. Around 5:25, I realized my writing was going downhill fast, so I started to pack it up. During my "break" I found two books which I wanted checked out.

I walk out and look for an umbrella. Yes... there were no umbrellas there. I told myself that one of the homeless people I saw needed it more that I do. And I am OK with that.

I have relieved much stress just by taking that day off. However, I have an orchestra & chorus concert this coming Thursday, "Fame!" opens on the 31st, and I have a lot of revision to do on my NB entries.

Friday I gave the head of our English department three entries to critique for me. I am really glad she is reading my entries, because she... well, she is good. I have final NBPTS reading session on Monday. I am so very thankful for the support system that has established itself for me. My assistant principal, who has been through the process, has been wonderful!