Thanksgiving

Hi all,
  I have been absent from the blog world for a while. I just haven't taken the time to update anything. My school year has been great! I love teaching kindergarten, and I am glad that made the change to this grade level. I needed something different at this time of my life, and my little class is just what I needed.
  We had a great Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. My daughter's family was out of town, so I missed them a lot. My son had to work at Paula Deen's restaurant, so I missed him a lot! The four of us 'old folks' were there, though, meaning me and my siblings! haha
Also, the youngest of the grandchildren were there. My brothers both have younger families than my sister and I, so they were still present at the family gathering. We greatly missed our two youngest family members, Dora and Violet, but they were with their other families for the day. That is okay. I am posting a picture from my brother's FB page, so I hope that it is not blurry. Sometimes when you 'borrow' a picture, that picture is not so clear. I am still the shortest person around, even shorter than my nieces and nephews. That is okay, too, because you can always pick me out in the picture!! hahahaha
Back row: Tommy, Susan, me, Amy
Middle row: Ellen, Dewey, Jr., Dewey, Sr., Dewey III, Lauren, Julia, William, Sr.
Front row: William, Jr., Rebecca

Have a great weekend!!

Kindergarten Smindergarten!!

I took the plunge!!  I tackled the challenge!  I am teaching KINDERGARTEN!!  Yippee!  After 18 years in the gifted education program (which I loved), I can now say that I am a kindergarten teacher. I must say that I am enjoying every minute of it, too! In fact, I was so excited that I went to work extremely early the first two days. Day 1 was great. Day 2...well, let's just say that I thought I was superman.  I parked my car, and then re-parked it. I went to check the parking, and my jeep started rolling backwards! I tried to jump in it and stop it, but it stopped me!  Apparently, the door hit me, knocked me to the ground, and the tire went over my leg. Luckily, no bones were broken, but my leg was a mess. By the time I reached the ER, the leg was humongous, and I had a huge bump on my head from the front to the back from where my head HIT the pavement. ouch. The leg is still swollen, and the back of my head still aches a bit when I touch it, but I am working again. I went back to work after only two weeks off. The doctors really wanted me to stay out three weeks, but I wouldn't wait. So, this week was a four day week - due to Labor Day. By Thursday, my leg was aching and my foot was huge. The swelling has gone down into the foot. It didn't help any that I wouldn't wear my knee brace. It was either too tight, or it would slide down, so I took it off. That was a big mistake that I rectified Friday, by wearing it all day and using both crutches! Whew. The leg didn't hurt quite as bad, but my foot was still a few sizes too big.  Anywho, my students are terrific, and I love my new class. There is a lot to learn in kindergarten, for ME and my students. I will get the hang of it soon, though, and I am thoroughly looking forward to the challenge that lays before me.

A - Apple - a

haha

I - itch - i

See, I know the sounds already!! Now, I just need to figure out how to put the short vowel sound over letters in a word processing program.  haha

Have a great weekend!!

One More Day

Today is our last day of summer vacation. We start back to work tomorrow. By we, I mean the public school teachers here in Savannah. I have been to my school three times already. It was kind of nice being back, actually. I enjoy being at home, but I also enjoy having a routine and being around people. When my children were little, I wanted desperately to be at home with them, but I had to work. They tell me that they turned out just fine, and they tell me not to worry about working while they were small. They say that I did what I had to do, and they are right. I have two wonderful children who have grown into two extremely wonderful adults.
So, it is back to the grindstone tomorrow. Believe it or not, I am actually looking forward to it!!

We are going to my niece's 15th birthday party tonight at Logan's Steakhouse. She is a happy girl these days, because she was accepted into the Savannah Arts High School for this coming year, her sophomore year. I know she will thrive there and be very successful. We have a lot of birthdays coming up this month. Becca, brother Dewey, niece Julia, and daughter Rachel. Bam, bam, bam, birthdays will be happening for three weekends in a row, and then Adam's will be here a couple of weeks after that!
I am making Julia a "Belle' cake, for her 7th birthday party. I found a cute one online, and I am going to attempt to make it. I bought the doll for it months ago, after Julia told me what kind of birthday she was having this year. I will put the photo of it here. I really hope that I can make the cake look like this one. Julia loved this picture, when I showed it to her. I will need to take off the doll's clothes, and cover her in saran wrap. I watched a video once on how to do this, so I hope that I learned something! haha
Have a great week!

The beach, clouds, thunder, sun, and a book

I made it to the beach yesterday! I settled all in, and then the thunder started! I had just put enough money in the 'pay to park' meter for four hours, and I was determined to stay. I found a spot that already had a hole for my umbrella, but having no luck getting it to stay solid, I decided not to use the umbrella. I had recently bought some 'anchors' to hold the umbrella in the sand. I tried to use one, but it didn't exactly work for me. I was in a hurry and didn't really take the time to make it work. Plus, I really didn't want to sit under an umbrella. I have that for when little Dora is with me to keep her out of the hot, bright sun.
As the thunder cracked, roared, and rolled, I looked up and realized it might blow over. Then, it sprinkled rain. I used the umbrella to cover my wagon and bag, and it worked pretty well. I had forgotten to bring a towel, but that was okay. It was hot enough to dry off, if perchance I went into the ocean - which I did.
A few Christmases ago, or birthdays ago, I bought Rachel theTrilogy series of books written by Eugenia Price about St. Simons Island. The first one is called Lighthouse. Rachel is reading that series again, and she let me take this first book to 'read'. Now, I am not much of a reader, but I took the book anyway. I read this series many years ago, when I was around 20 or 21 and greatly enjoyed all of the books. So, I started reading Lighthouse with our lighthouse in the background. The sun was really bright, and it was a bit hard to see the words sometimes, due to the sweat pouring into my eyes, ha! Sometimes, I can read outside without my 'magnifying' old lady glasses, but I needed them yesterday. I was hoping not to get a raccoon face, with white circles around my eyes from the glasses in the sun. Anyway, I actually read about 60 pages. Mind you, I was there for four hours, so you can see how slowly I read. I used to be able to read much faster, but that was before my car crash. I was hit by a drunk driver in January of 1990 and suffered many injuries. One of the injuries was that a blood clot released to my brain, causing a stroke and a partial blindness. So, it is difficult for me to read. I keep trying, though. Sometimes it is easier to read than other times. I'm not sure why that is, but it happens.
Anyway, I had a great time at the beach all by myself. I did get a lot of sun, even though the clouds were in the sky. Most people do not realize that you can get too much sun when it is an overcast day. I found that out the hard way when I lived in the Tennessee mountains. I was at the lake one day, by myself, and it was very overcast. I came home with the WORST sunburn of my entire life. Actually, I believe that I had sun poisoning. I was red as red could be. I had the chills constantly. I could barely move. Then, the blisters appeared all over, and I still had the chills. That sunburn took many days, possibly weeks, to get over. Ever since then, I make sure to wear lots of sunscreen. That experience is not one that I wish to repeat.
The sprinkles yesterday didn't last long. The clouds continued to roll. The waves were very rough, and the undertow was extremely bad. I was so worried about some of the younger people who were out in the water. Many people come to the beach who do not understand how bad the undertow can be. It carries you way past where you enter the water. By that I mean, you can go in at one point right in front of your belongings and end up way, way down the beach in front of some other people's belongings! You don't realize that you are being carried away like that until you are ready to get out of the water. The undertow was super strong yesterday, kind of scary strong, actually.
I was on the North side of the beach, right in front of the Tybee Lighthouse. I love lighthouses. I have many books about them, and I love to teach my students about them. I am attaching a picture of the view from where I was on the beach and a picture of one of the seagulls who came to visit me!

After spending a few minutes in the water and being knocked around by the strong waves and undertow, I went back to shore and sat in my chair and read my book. I hope to get through the book and begin the next one in the series. Rachel is already on number three - again. When I bought the books, I tried to find the one called Savannah, but it wasn't in print anymore.
Wouldn't you know it...As I was writing this entry and looking for pictures of the books, Rachel and her family came over. She brought the other two books with her! She has already finished them all!! She is one fast reader, that is for sure. So, I scanned the books and will put their pictures here. The third book of the series, Beloved Invader, is actually the first book that Eugenia Price wrote. It is interesting that she wrote the 'first and second' books of the Trilogy after she wrote the 'third' book of the series. I guess in today's world they would be called 'prequels'. HA! That is what people are doing nowadays with books and movies that become very popular. Ms. Price was ahead of her time doing that!!
The books are much larger than they were years ago when I read them. I still have the other books, in regular paperback form somewhere. These are much nicer, though.

#1 in the St. Simon's Trilogy is Lighthouse.

#2 in the St. Simon's Trilogy is New Moon Rising.

#3 in the St. Simon's Trilogy is Beloved Invader, which is actually Ms. Price's first novel. For some odd reason, my scanner quit working during the last scan. It has taken me a while to get this picture scanned and ready. Technology...You can't live with it or without it!!

 

 

So, here are the three books that I am going to attempt to read. It may take quite a while to get through them, but I am set upon doing it. They are great books. Eugenia Price was a great storyteller. These books are especially interesting to me, because they are about South Georgia where I live. The Spanish Moss that she speaks of is rampant in my town, in my own trees, and all around. These books will make you love this area of our wonderful country. Maybe you can find copies of the this Trilogy and read them for yourself!

 

Have a great day!

 

Summer is almost over

I have been to my school twice this week. That means that summer is almost over! We start back on Monday. This summer was just too short, but I think I need to go back to work in order to have a vacation! haha  Things around here have been a bit, more than a bit, hectic during these summer months. I have enjoyed my trips to the beach, and I might just take another trip tomorrow. Otherwise, I have been around the house taking care of my daddy. He has been sick most of the summer. He was sick with respiratory things most of the beginning of the summer, and then he went into the hospital with pneumonia. He got a bit better, but he has been fighting the respiratory illness all month. He is doing a little better today, thank goodness. I took Adam to school today, and he helped me move all of my supplies and materials downstairs to my new room. I could not have done the moving of all of that by myself, and I am thankful that Adam went to help me. As far as setting up the room, that will have to wait. It is still full of kindergarten materials, and last year's bulletin boards and wall things are still up. Hopefully, the teacher from that room will move those things this week, so that I can set up my room.
I baked a chicken and a ham today. The ham will be good for a few days. The chicken might turn into something else tomorrow! haha
We went to the Farmer's Market Saturday and got some fresh vegetables. I have used them all up, though. We only got a small amount. I thought veggies in the grocery store were expensive, but the veggies from the farmers are even higher priced! Oh well...they were good. I also got some peanuts and boiled them. They were huge!
I'm not sure what will go on the rest of this week, but I hope that another trip to the beach happens!
Summer is almost over, but there are still several days left. I must make the best of them! I finally found some 'anchors' for my beach umbrellas, so I must try them out. Now, maybe the umbrella will not roll down the beach with the wind!!
Happy Tuesday!!

More Cuddins'

This week, I was able to visit with more cousins...my Hooper cousins from the north Georgia Mountains. My Daddy is from Rabun County in north Georgia. My cousin, Kathryn, and her family came to Tybee Island this week. Kathryn's mamma was my daddy's dear sister. Kathryn and her sister, Gail, are our only cousins on my daddy's side of the family, and we were always close during our growing up years. Kathryn's children and grandchildren were able to come. Daughter Erin and her sons Chris, Alex, and Ethan. Erin's husband couldn't make this trip. Daughter Karina, her husband Tony, and their children Eden and Zeb!!


Kathryn and Dewilla

Here are five of the six first cousins: Dewey, Susan, Dewilla, Kathryn, and William, with Daddy!

Kathryn's family rented a condo at the Brass Rail for the week. They were all extremely excited to be at the beach and to be able to spend an entire week together on vacation. When people grow up and have their own families, it is often difficult to get them altogether for occasions such as this.
Erin is Kathryn's oldest daughter, and she has three teenage boys - Chris (6' 4" and 16 years old), Alex, and Ethan. They all came in town on Wednesday to visit with Daddy!!

Excuse the fuzzy picture. My photographer has shaky hands!! Ooops...I'm the photographer!

Erin and Daddy

 

Adam got home from school right as the cuddins' were leaving to go to River Street. He posed for a couple of pictures! This picture is of  Erin, Adam, Karina, and Zeb.

 Karina is Kathryn's youngest daughter, and she has two young children - Eden is 3 years old, and Zeb is 10 months old. They are sweet little ones! This picture is of Dora and Eden, at Tybee!

Dora is 1 1/2 years old, and Eden is 3 1/2 years old.

Kathryn and family came in town to see Daddy on Wednesday. Daddy really enjoyed seeing them. He even got to hold little Zeb!

 

 Rachel, Dora, and I went to the beach to visit with them for a couple of hours on Thursday. We met them at the Lighthouse, and I got to visit the gift shop and buy some things that I really didn't need! They all enjoyed going up to the top of the lighthouse and looking out across the ocean.

 

Can you see them up there at the tip top?

 

We took them over to the beach, which was right across the road, and visited for a bit. Dora loves the water!!!!!! Can you see her kicking? I used the Zoom lens for this one.

 

 

Rachel and Dora with Karina and Zeb, at the Lighthouse

Sweet cousins and terrific mammas!!

 

Then, I had to come home and take Daddy to the doctor for his checkup. He has been sick again. He just can't shake this respiratory illness. The doctor gave him more medicine, so I hope it will clear up soon.

The cuddins' will be heading home today. We had two nice visits with them. I know they had  wonderful time on their vacation, and I hope they get to come back one day!

Here is a picture of Kathryn with Daddy!

Have a great week!!

A Rainy Sunday

So... what do you do on a rainy Sunday? Stay inside, I suppose! I was out and about rather early today at Home Depot and Lowe's, but I got home before the rain. Daddy is on my laptop doing Ancestry.com things, so I am in the computer room using the regular computer. I always use this one, anyway.
There is nothing much on TV to watch. I do not read for pleasure, unless I skim through a magazine. I could be cross stitching the new patterns I bought to do for Dora. I could bake a cake or some cupcakes. Maybe I will make a pound cake. That will keep me busy, and we all love those things! I need to mop the house, but I am waiting until later in the day to do that. There is not much use in mopping the house when it is raining outside and everyone will be bringing in dirty, wet feet!!
The summer has been enjoyable. I have been to the beach FIVE times, and I have a pretty nice tan. I went to visit my Grimm cousins who were staying at the beach for a week, and I enjoyed meeting the new little ones in their family. I took a trip to Alabama to visit more Grimm cousins. This week, my north Georgia Hooper cousins are coming to stay for the week at Tybee, so I will get to see them and their little ones, too! As usual in the summer, I have had several doctor's appointments and checkups. It is easier to do these appointments in the summer, so that I do not have to take off from work. Before school resumes in two weeks, I must get the animals to the vet~ I keep putting that off. Daddy has been sick again this week, so things were put on hold for a while. Hopefully, he will be feeling better in a few days. At first, the doctor was going to put him back in the hospital, but he decided that recuperating at home with two very strong antibiotics would be better. Thank goodness!!
So, have I decided what to do on a rainy Sunday? Not really....I guess I'll go bake a cake!!
Have a great week!!