Cook-out

After spending two days in a workshop and one day in a planning session I was ready for summer to officially begin. What did I do? Walked in the morning, took recycling, then went to school! I know, absurd right?! One of the teams got the brilliant idea to paint paw prints all over the walls of the school so I went for about 2 hours and helped paint. I did get a free lunch out of the deal and some time away from the classroom with other teachers. What do I have planned for Monday? You guessed it. Walking then painting at school for a few hours. What is wrong with me?!
Friday I was able to stay away by having lunch with another teacher I used to work with and attempting a pool trip. I went with Crystal and her boys to the pool. Owen and I were almost at the edge when they blew the whistle because of thunder. After sitting under the covered part for 30 minutes and watching the lightening get closer, we asked for our money back and left. They couldn't give our money back, but gave us a free pass. So we are hoping to try again on Tuesday. It was fun to hang out with the kids though!
Saturday was spent grocery shopping and mowing the grass before watching Team USA give it their all. I headed over to Anna and Blair's house to watch the end of the game before everyone came over for the cook-out that we have been trying to have since the end of April! There were an awful lot of dark clouds and thunder looming around us, but luckily it cooled things off and passed with out dumping rain on us making for a cooler night to sit outside with friends. I only got a few pictures before my camera battery died. The boys enjoyed playing "hide-n-seek", the girls enjoyed gabbing, and the three guys enjoyed getting to know each other better. It was a wonderful way to get summer started!

Flashback

Since I couldn't go home to see my dad, I decided to join my friends for some 80's music! The Breakfast Club was coming into town and a group of us decided to dance the night away. We decided that dressing up could only make this night perfect and we thought everyone would have the same idea. Between Wal-Mart, Goodwill, and Ross I came up with a black lace mini skirt, leggings, fake converse, jelly bracelets, bright purple earrings, and a tank top that I'll wear again! The best part is all together is was pretty cheap! So, eight of us met up in downtown for dinner before walking to the show and meeting up with the rest of the group. Of course we received many stares before, during, and after dinner to which I'm sure many visitors to the area thought we were part of the "Asheville freaks". This of course just made it that much more fun! Apparently we were about the only ones that had the idea to dress-up! When we walked in, the stares were worse hinting that they secretly wanted to join our party! I bet next time there is a show there will be more people dressed the part! We danced and laughed the night away!

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My Daddy

Happy Father's Day to my sweet dad. I agreed to dog-sit for my neighbors this weekend and upcoming week so I will be going home in a week to celebrate late with dad. For now, a phone call will have to do. I love you dad. Love, Prisspot

Big Steps

During workdays this week, I decided it was time to really test Pattie. So, each morning when I left for work Pattie was left out in the house. She has made it up to 5 1/2 hours so far but this would take her to 8+ hours by herself. I opened the blinds to the sliding glass door and the big open window in the front room in hopes the squirrels, birds, and bunnies would hold her attention. It worked! For three straight days, Pattie stayed in the house by herself! Two of those nights, I came home for about an hour before leaving again for another 3+ hours. She's growing up! Thursday night Pattie and I went walking in the woods with Anna, her dog Clemson, Ann, and her dog Chloe. Halfway through the walk, Anna decided to test Clemson off the leash. He did great and even got in the water with the girls! What a grown-up week for these pups!
Last night Chloe came to stay with us and Pattie had another episode. Lesson learned...keep Pattie on the leash or shock collar! After Chloe arrived, I took both pups over to play with Clemson while Anna and I got our 80's outfits for tonights' music together. Today I will be in charge of 4 dogs while my neighbors are on vacation and until Chloe gets picked up. Luckily their yard is one big fenced in fun zone so all four pups will be in there while I mow the grass. All next week Pattie gets to play with them so hopefully she will be one happy pup! (the first picture is of the pups after the walk and was taken with Anna's cell phone, sent to me on Facebook where I saved the picture to my computer. I can't get it any bigger. The second picture is last night from my cell phone of Pattie and Chloe passed out together!)

Out with the old...

Out with the old= me
In with the new= Anna
And so my reign ends. I turned over my parking spot to my dear friend Anna on Monday. I arrived at school early to decorate the sign with balloons so she would know the close spot now belonged to her. During our cook-out that day, I brought a little bag of tricks. After traveling with her and Blair down to Charleston in March, I learned a few secrets about Anna's past. For starters, she was Miss South Point so I made her a TOY sash. Another secret learned was about Anna once being a sock model. So, I found some fun socks at Wal-Mart just for the occasion. In addition to this attire, I wrote on and passed along the TOY hat. This tradition was started seven years ago. The current TOY writes a message on the beanie hat and passes it along to the next legacy. So, I no longer hold the title of reigning TOY but instead have happily passed this honor on to my friend. I'll miss that spot during rain showers and cold weather! Congratulations Anna!

Until We Meet Again

This has been the week for saying goodbyes. My friends Hollie, Ben, and their two boys decided the week after Memorial Day they would be moving back to Greensboro. Since their house never sold, they are just moving right back in. It's a great move for them, but we will certainly miss them up here! Tuesday night Lauren, Ann, Hollie, and I went out for one last dinner before the final move. Luckily they'll be back some this summer.
Wednesday afternoon we gathered at Abby's house after school for one last hoorah! Marian, Harriet, and Martha will all be retiring this year. I will miss them all, but especially my "aunt" Marian. It's still not real to me and I know it will hit me next August when I step through the doors without her. She will be missed in the hallways but I know she will enjoy her time away!

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HOT!

Once I got in my car today and started to leave work, I looked down to see this picture:I could have sworn that I lived in the cooler climate of the mountains! I can't imagine what some of you are experiencing right now! Luckily it did cool down to a comfortable 90 by the time I got home!

It's Done!

Friday afternoon ended the school year! No more tying shoes, opening milk cartons, listening to tattling, or hearing whining until August 25th. However, I will miss bear hugs, random funny sayings, and making me laugh daily; but I think I can find something to keep my mind off that for the summer! Friday afternoon a group of us from school headed to the Black Rose for drinks and appetizers to celebrate. This event followed our impromptu dance party we had in the front office where we did the electric slide, the cupid shuffle, and let the three retirees dance down our line to Celebration! I came home that afternoon and enjoyed another cocktail with Ann while the pups ran crazy around the yard.
Saturday morning, I met up with some friends to run a race. Ann sent out an e-mail last week trying to get some friends to sign up for the Run for Kids Sake 5k at Warren Wilson college. It supported the Boys and Girls Club of the area so I signed myself up. The course went through the streets of the campus, back into trails along the creek, and snaked it's way back to the starting line. I had heard that this campus was pretty but had never made my way out there. It was not my best time, but I enjoyed running. Brad, Ann, Justin, and I enjoyed our snacks after the race then headed back to our houses. Maybe next year Maggie can run the race with us! I will certainly keep this race in mind for next June!
The afternoon was spent showering and running errands before meeting Ann and Brad to watch USA play England. We decided to just hang at their house which was great for the pups. Pattie and Chloe played together while we cheered on the USA! Pattie and I headed over to Jon and Caitlin's house after the game. Caitlin's birthday was Friday so they were having a cook-out to celebrate. Pattie and their puppy Brutus played together while the adults enjoyed fish tacos and cocktails. We made our way back to Ann and Brad's house around 8:30 so I could drop off Pattie. We left the dogs together in the house to play while we headed downtown for Wendy's going away party. In two weeks, she will be joining the Peace Corps in China to work and teach. She had quite a good turnout of people gathered to wish her well. After dropping Ann off and picking up my tired puppy, we got home after midnight. I crashed and actually slept until 9:45! Well, I woke up at my normal 5:40 time and was in and out of sleep until 9:30. My body needed some good rest! Now it's on to relaxing today!

Sweet 16 times two

Yes folks, you read correctly. I turned 32 yesterday and it was a fabulous day! I'm thinking I might enjoy my 30's more than my 20's. 29 was a hard number for me to digest, but it has continued to get better with each new number. I'm almost having more fun now then I did in my 20's and maybe that's not saying much!
My birthday was spent at school teaching six year olds. Well, let's back up. What kind of teaching do you think really happened on the 178th day of school?! We had water day all morning, lunch outside, played outside, and ate cookie cake topped with a good 1 1/2 to 2 inches worth of whipped icing; my favorite! After school, 15 of us gathered at Blue Sky for dinner! Maggie called ahead and they actually reserved 3 tables on the patio for us. I've never had reserved seating at my birthday before! Crystal, with the help from Owen, made lemon pudding cupcakes which were divine! I brought home 3 extras which I am savoring. Mandi and Ryan also brought a cookie cake which was also might tasty! I had 2 desserts Tuesday night, brownie topped with ice cream and strawberries at lunch, cookie cake with icing for snack, then a cupcake and a few bites of another cookie cake after dinner. I certainly "had my cake too"! Last year's birthday was quite enjoyable, but this year proved to be even better! I am certainly lucky to have such wonderful friends with which to celebrate!

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Birthday Weekend

My sweet mother came up Saturday morning to spend some time with me for my birthday. Dad actually offered too but mom knew he wouldn't enjoy the window shopping, leisurely lunch, and girlie movie time so much. I'll take a trip home the end of June to see him for late Father's day and we can catch up then. After mom arrived Saturday morning, we headed to a consignment shop on our way to Tupelo Honey for lunch...yum! The afternoon was spent shopping (mostly looking) and stopping for ice cream before taking Pattie for a walk. That evening, we made a pineapple and pepperoni pizza at home before popping in a movie, Valentine's Day. Sunday morning, mom made me chocolate chip pancakes (I realize I'm five and I'm okay with it) before we headed to church. We enjoyed a salad from Zaxby's while enjoying Up In The Air. Shortly after the movie, mom headed back down the mountain. What a great way to celebrate!
I'm never truly celebrated a birthday week, but this year has turned into one:
Tuesday: summer brew
Wednesday: chocolate milkshake and hamburger from Cook-out
Thursday: pulling weeds...it's free therapy
Friday: reading a People magazine (after cleaning!)
Saturday: hanging with my mom enjoying a bloddy mary
Sunday: chocolate pancakes
Monday: trail run with Ann and Chloe
Tuesday: hanging out at my friend Anna's house
I'm thinking of doing this every year! :)

Mountain Sports Festival

Saturday afternoon, I headed towards downtown to enjoy music with Maggie, Justin, and their two boys. The Mountain Sports Festival was holding free music all afternoon and evening. What two better words go together besides live music and free?! After enjoying the sights, sounds, and sweat for a few hours we packed up our stuff to head out to dinner. Before heading home, we enjoyed a mexican meal in the Biltmore area before calling it a night. By the way, this family is expecting baby #3 in October! Yeah!

Baseball Birthday Celebration

In the past two weeks, my friends Ann and Hollie had birthdays. We haven't all been together to celebrate yet, so I suggested that we catch a Saturday night baseball game together. This would be kid friendly in hopes that everyone could attend. We had a good turn out but missed the Anders family, the Johnsons family, as well as Mandi and Ryan. A group of us ate at Wild Wings then some of us walked over the game. It was nice to enjoy some baseball and each others company. Happy late Birthday to Ann and Hollie both!

GOTR

Since the end of February, I have been helping with the Girls on the Run program at our school. We met Wednesday and Thursday afternoons until 4:15 with 15 girls. The 4 coaches taught lessons on self- confidence, bullying, self-image, saying no to drugs, and how to help other friends. In addition to these lessons the girls were training to run a 5K. This past Saturday was the moment these girls had been waiting for and I think it was everything they imagined and more! We arrived Saturday morning to participate in the New Balance Girls on the Run 5K. There was a booth set up to get your hair sprayed super bright colors and more ribbons, bows, and headbands than you could imagine! One 5th grade girl on our team convinced each coach to get their hair done by these young beauticians! She even convinced our principal to participate and her dark hair was brightly sprayed with hot pink! I ran with a 3rd grader who I taught in Kindergarten and kid-sat 2 summers. She did awesome pushing herself up the hills, only walking a few steps before picking her starting point. We would walk maybe past three driveways before she picked out the next mailbox, stop sign, or driveway to begin running again. My friend Anna and two of her 3rd grade teammates showed up with homemade shirts to cheer on the girls! They also handed out roses at the end to their group of 3rd graders. Blair, Anna's husband was a running buddy for a girl in Anna's class. She was pumped to have "Mr. Holloway" as her buddy. All those times she struggled through practices was worth it in the end when she turned to him and said, "Will you be my buddy next year please?" All the girls did awesome and I am certainly proud of their hard work!

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Update on Pattie-cake

After Pattie and I spent 40 minutes one morning trying to get her back in the house, I had to take desperate measures! The good thing in all this was she never left my yard. So, she is now the proud owner of a shock collar. Luckily, I have only had to use the shock part once. She quickly learned to either come back when she hears the beep or come before the beep had to be used. My aunt Laura sent me a box of their old dog's stuff. It was like Christmas! We now have big bowls that I had my eye on in the stores, more durable toys, lots of leashes, and the most amazing invention for dog walking EVER! Although Pattie has gotten better, she still pulls terribly during walks or runs. I went walking with Anna who uses the gentle leader on her dog, Clemson. I realized there was one in the box. This past week I tried it and all I can say is AMAZING! It was like a hands-free walk for me! I think Caroline could even walk Pattie now and no one would get dragged down! So Tuesday of last week we used the gentle leader and Thursday I put it on and stepped foot into the woods with Ann and her dog Chloe. We were going on a 3ish mile jog in the woods where Chloe is allowed off the leash. After 3 minutes into the run, I decided to try Pattie off the leash. She was the leader of the pack! She would run ahead with Chloe but stop just before getting out of sight or either come back to check on us. She loved the freedom of chasing Chloe but knew her job was to keep me safe! I will certainly be going on more of these evening runs! In addition to all this fun, Pattie has been taking some tests. I have been leaving her out of the crate in the evenings or weekends when I've been gone for a few hours. She has made it up to 4 hours until yesterday. She spent the morning out of the crate lasting 4 hours then was left out for 5 hours was I gone in the evening. Pattie did awesome! I think both times she drank from the toilet, but so far nothing has been chewed up except the toilet paper so I took it off the roll this time. Really the toilet paper just looks like the clawed at it just to prove her point. Either way, I've been so proud of her and hope this good behavior continues!

Mandi Gets Engaged!

After 11 years of dating, Mandi and Ryan are engaged! We celebrated Wednesday night with some of the girls for dinner. Mandi (the one with the brown jacket on) and I have worked together for the past 5 years. She has certainly added some humor to my days at school! Now we wait for the big celebration sometime next year!

cheep, cheep

I took down the fern hanging on the porch yesterday to give it a little drink of water. As I sat it down, I noticed this tiny nest filled with four blue eggs. I bet the mama bird was watching me intently ready to strike at any moment! I'll certainly keep my ears open for the cheeping and hopefully I can post updates soon!

My Mom

I was able to spend mother's day weekend up here with my sweet mom. She arrived Friday night to a lasagna and salad dinner prepared by yours truly! We spent the evening playing with Pattie and sitting outside enjoying the weather. Saturday morning, I took her out to eat breakfast at Sunnypoint Cafe. (Which if you are a fan, they are in the running for the best breakfast by Good Morning America. You can vote May 15th, I believe.) After a scrumptious breakfast, we browsed Target and World Market before heading home. We played in the yard for a bit before deciding to head to Carl Sandburg's house. After traveling down the wrong road for awhile, we finally found our destination! We walked around the lake, the house, and the barn before heading to a few shops in the Flat Rock area.
We made a quick stop to pick up a few movies and a few more groceries before arriving back home for the movie marathon! We decided leftovers would make for a good dinner before popping some popcorn for the second showing of the evening. We watched It's Complicated, took a break and played outside with Pattie, then came back inside for Julia and Julie. Sunday morning, we ate our leftover breakfast with a few new extras and drank coffee leisurely. After church, I made mom lunch before she had to head back home. During our lunch of salmon, sweet potato, and sauteed squash, onion, and zucchini we watched the last move Love Happens.
We had wonderful weather and were able to enjoy being outside with Pattie while enjoying each others' company. I am truly blessed to have such a loving mother.

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Big Brothers

I'd just like to say Happy Birthday to my wonderful big brother! Thanks for taking care of your little sis all these years and for being such a great role model. I love you!

Growing Up

I took Pattie to the vet today. She hasn't been since the summer when she had her girlie surgery. Well, I actually took her a few months back to see how much she weighed before buying more heartworm and flea medicine. Anyway, I was totally dreading the experience based on past visits. However, this one was so much smoother! She never jumped on anyone that walked by or in the room and she even laid down while waiting in the room! She now weighs 44 pounds! They said she was ready to advance from puppy food to adult food. My baby pup is growing up!

On another note, while walking to lunch today here was my conversation with one of my kids:
Kaden: Is Mrs. Watkins married?
Me: Yes, she is married to Mr. Watkins.
K: Oh, I thought you were married.
Me: No, not yet
K: Well, you should find someone to marry so he can be Mr. Gribble.
Me: Laughing I told him that I would have a new last name one day when I met the right person.

Looking a little bit confused, he continued to lead our line to lunch.
Oh the thinking of five year olds!