My how time flies!

I can't believe it's been almost two months since my last post. Yes, we did indeed survive the first week of school and now we've made it through the first six weeks. Let's see if I can get caught up.

The library has been busy. We've had classes almost every day of every week since school started. Not that it's a bad thing, but we haven't had time to get our library work done. Does that make sense to anyone who isn't a librarian? Our main focus, of course, is helping kids and teachers with research assignments and projects. But, we still have to order and process materials as well as perform maintenance on the collection. I'm behind on budget stuff and just about everything else I can think of. This week is TAKS retesting for juniors and seniors, and unfortunately there are enough students retesting that we need to use the library. The good news is that Mary and I should be able to get some of our work caught up during the down time. Don't get me wrong...we won't be twiddling our thumbs looking for something to do. It should be a productive week that will help us feel much more in control of our environment.

My other school work has been challenging. We've had a busy semester in Data Analysis and School Law and Internship. I've finished my major project for School Law, but I still have two group projects to do for Data Analysis. Also, the Internship has been pretty time-consuming as well. I have to log 150 hours this semester in a variety of principal-type activities. I've been working a lot on School Safety training and other stuff to get ready for our safety audit next week. I'm not going to have any trouble getting in the hours.

Chris is busy with school and band and quintet and South Arkansas Symphony. He's in Arkansas this weekend for SAS and two quintet jobs. They're playing in Hot Springs today...I think. All I know is that he had three things going on this weekend in El Dorado, Arkadelphia, and Hot Springs. The Paris band didn't advance to Area competition for this weekend, so he's not happy about that.

We've seen Nick, Angela, and Ethan a couple of times recently. We babysat for a while one Saturday while Nick was busy with a marching contest and Angela was working. We saw them again when we went to Nick's orchestra concert at UTA. Ethan and Angela didn't go to the concert, but we spent some time with them afterwards. Ethan will be 2 in December, so he's at that age when grandparents think the kids are adorable and fun but when parents think they're a handful. I do know that I don't think I have the energy to keep up with him full time, but we certainly enjoy the time we get with him.

Nick and Angela are working hard on getting certified to teach. Angela graduated from UTA in May, but she decided that she wanted to try teaching. She's finishing an alternative certification program this fall and should be certified and ready to teach by January. Nick is finishing his last semester at UTA and doing his internship for his certification. He'll graduate in May. WOOHOO!!! I'm really proud of him for working as hard as he has to get finished. Hopefully, they'll both land good teaching jobs in the Bedford/Ft. Worth area next year.

Natalie and Brandon were home this weekend for part of their fall break. They got in Friday night in time for the Paris-NL football game (not our best game of the year). We also went to a friend's wedding last night which was a lot of fun. They're on their way to Baytown to spend the rest of the break with Brandon's family. It was fun having them here, although I'm sorry that Chris didn't get to see them.

I'm going to take a nap and enjoy my afternoon home alone. Have a great week, and I hope to catch up sooner next time.

Survival

We made it through the first week of school. There is very lttle that compares to the kind of tired teachers feel at the end of the first week of school. I was in bed by 9 or 9:30 at least two nights this week - way unusual for me. We're grateful for a three-day weekend.

Chris had to be at school by 7 most mornings for band rehearsal and then he had to go to Gainesville for our first football game which we won. He didn't get home until 1:30 this morning. Poor guy...he had a very long week.

My week was pretty good. Due to our new schedule, the library will open at 7:30 every morning. I made it on time most mornings, but we didn't have many students. I'm hoping that things will pick up in the next few weeks. I stuck around after school pretty late most days, so I'm finally feeling a bit more ready to go.

We started classes in MP this week also. We're taking School Law and Data Analysis. I'm really glad that the two teachers decided to alternate weeks. We'll meet one class each week for 4-5 hours instead of meeting both classes every week. We were home by 10 which wasn't too bad.

We're off to Marshall this afternoon for Nat's first home football game. It'll be nice to see her and Brandon. Brandon's parents are planning to be there as well. I hope the team does better this year!

Life is busy and good.

Happy Birthday, Papaw!

My, what a family I have! We met in Texarkana last weekend for Daddy's 70th birthday party. It was just a small gathering - only 20 of us this time. Daddy has 5 great-grandsons under the age of 10 who enjoyed playing with each other all night. Jamie's boys are 9, 8, and 6; Ethan is 19 months; and Gavin is 13 months. What a houseful! Ethan had a great time. He was running and playing as soon as he got out of the car, and he didn't let up even to eat supper. Gavin has only been walking for a couple of months, so he was a little intimidated by the bigger boys. By Christmastime, though, he'll be in the thick of things with the others.

There's nothing like a little family time to set the world in order.

Batter Up!

We met Nick, Angela, and Ethan at The Ballpark for the Rangers-Devil Rays game on Saturday night. We had a great time. Ethan was cute as ever and was all decked out in his Rangers outfit. He didn't have a clue about the game, but he enjoyed dancing with the music and clapping and yelling "Go!" I don't know if he got more nacho cheese in his mouth or on his face, but ne enjoyed them. Chris did his best to engage him in the game, but we were too far away for him to follow anything. We stayed for the fireworks after the game which he seemed to enjoy as well. It was HOT - near 100 when the game started but only cooled to 90 by 10:00 - but Ethan didn't seem to be too bothered by the heat. We're planning to pick him up this weekend to go to his great-grandfather's 70th birthday party in Texarkana.

Chris has band again this week, and I have several school things this week as well. You'd think I would be on contract with all the stuff I have to do. On Monday, I'm meeting with all of the new teachers in the district to introduce them to our library resources and to train them in setting up their Web Presence. On Tuesday I'm going to a district technology meeting, and Wednesday I'm going to a videoconference. Sometime this week Crystal and I have to get together to work on our Technology Integration Day presentation. Like I said, I might as well be on contract! I'm still hoping to get a few more projects done around the house before school starts, but we'll see.

All is well

Just so you don't think I've totally gone off the deep end, life is good. Nat has called at least three times since I left Marshall, so we're communicating just fine. She's working hard and staying busy...and so am I. I had a nice, lazy morning, got a little housework done, and went to a meeting at school. So, you see, all is well in Kornegayland.

I think part of the problem last night was that Chris wasn't with me, and he wasn't home when I got in from Marshall. That's the toughest part...coming home alone. But, I watched some TV, played around on the computer, and kept myself busy until he got home.


We did a trial run with connecting the laptop to the TV for tomorrow night's DCI Semi-Finals Webcast. We're still drum corps geeks, but we only attended one competition this year. I've followed Phantom Regiment and the other corps on the DCI website and on a drum corps forum. I think that once your kid marches with a drum corps, parents become drum corps supporters for life. Actually, Chris took me to my first drum corps competition in Little Rock back in our college days, and we went to the World Championships in Dallas way back in 1991. I guess we've had the bug for a while!

Here's a pic of Nick and the Contra (Tuba) section after finals in 2004. We'll be glued to the TV/computer tomorrow night to see how Phantom Regiment does during the semi-finals. No webcast for finals, so we'll just have to check scores on the DCI website. Good luck Phantom Regiment!!

It doesn't get any easier

For all of my big talk about easy transition with Nat moving back to school, leaving her in Marshall was no piece of cake today. We had a disagreement before we left home, and neither of us was very happy with the other, so it was probably a good thing that we were in separate cars. Anyway, we had lunch in Marshall and then went to the dorm. The only people in the dorm were the RAs, so we're talking about 3 or 4 people who will be spending the night in the dorm until sometime next week. She'll be busy during the day with training and cleaning and all kinds of RA duties and getting to know the other RAs better. She didn't seem to be too nervous about being there almost alone, so I put on a smile and said a prayer.

Saying goodbye in the Wal-Mart parking lot was tough. I had already teared up when Chris left us to go to Texarkana for quintet rehearsal, so I was certain I'd probably be a mess when I left. I don't remember being so emotional when we took Nick to UTA the second year. I guess there's something about leaving the youngest child and coming home to an empty house.

I'm reminded of a poem I taught in freshman English years ago - "Empty House" by Stephen Spender:

Then, when the child was gone,
I was alone
In the house, suddenly grown huge.
Each noise
Explained itself away
As bird, or creaking board, or mouse,
Element or animal.
But mostly there was quiet as after battle
Where round the room still lay
The soldiers and the paintbox and the toys.
But when I went to tidy these away,
I felt my mind swerve:
My body was the house,
And everything he’d touched, an exposed nerve.

The New Yorker Book of Poems, p.192
The Viking Press, The New Yorker Magazine, Inc. 1969

That's really how it feels. I'll close her bedroom door for a week or so before I venture in to clean and set things in order. It's weird...and sad...but only for Chris and me and only for a while. No, things are not the same and will never be the same again.

Natalie is happy and she's doing exactly what she should be doing. She's in the center of God's will for her life, and I can't wait to see how He leads her. We'll continue to love her, trust her, and always pray for her. She'll always be our Nattie Poo-Poo wherever she is.

Back to school...for Natalie

Natalie moves back to Marshall tomorrow, so I guess that's officially the end of summer. We've enjoyed having her home, and I think she has had a pretty good summer. She worked at the church as our Children's Intern, so she participated in and helped organize all children's activities. She started with VBS and ended with SMAK and did quite a bit in between. She was even named Counselor of the Year at Pre-Teen Camp last month. She'll be an RA this year, so she'll have lots of new responsibilities. She's ready to get back to school and with all of her friends. She had a great freshman year, and I'm sure that this year will be just as good. She's still in band and she's involved in as much as she can on campus. Of course, Brandon is still very much in the picture, so we'll see where that goes. He's a great guy, and they're totally smitten with each other.



I remember my college days and how much I loved it. Being home for the summers was a little difficult because what I was used to was not how it was at home. And, I missed my friends and the things we did together. I was always ready to get back to school, and I know that Natalie is too.



So, Chris and I will be back to empty nesters soon. We survived the transition last fall, so this transition shouldn't be too hard. I'm sure we'll be busy as usual. Chris is already hard at work with band rehearsals, and I'll report for work on the 20th. Between now and then, I have some meetings to attend and training to conduct. The kids start school on the 27th, and I start classes on the 29th. Ready or not...summer's over!