Busy Busy Busy

I just got home from XA. It was a good one all the way around. I am very glad to be home though.

I woke up this morning feeling pretty under the weather. I stopped at safeway on the way to school and bought some dayquil. It didn't really help much. My throat stopped being sore, but my head still ached (a ton) and my body was pretty achey. Being a teacher and being sick is tough. Really tough. I never really thought about it before.

After school I stopped by the travel agent to discuss my trip to Spain. I've decided to use an agent to help me book my flight. That way I can find the best price without having to check a ton of websites. I'm hoping to hear back from her next week about what she finds. So far, from the rough searches I can expect to pay anywhere from $750-$900. Yikes that is a lot! But it will be so worth it.

When I got home I did nothing. I watched some TV. Played on myspace for a while. But mostly I just sat on my couch and relaxed. It felt really nice. And even though the couch was calling me to stay put, I changed and went to XA anyway. I am really glad that I did.

Kelly talked about how our words are really powerful. The quote, "sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me," is so far off base that someone was obviously lieing to themselves when they came up with that. Our words do hurt. They can hurt others and our selves. If you tell yourself you are a ditz long enough you will believe it! If you tell someone they are ugly long enough they will believe it. Our words have power. SO much power it amazes me. It makes me want to watch everything I say!

I called my brother as soon as XA was over. When we were growing up, I was really mean to him. I have said some horrible horrible things to him. So when I called him I told him what today's message was about and asked him if he remembered the things I said to him when we were young. Of course he did. I told him that I remembered to and that I was sorry. I don't think the things I said were true then or now and I am sorry I said them. Thankfully he accepted my apology.

I'm just thrilled with the relationship I have with my brother and my sister. We have gotten to be so close! All three of us moving to AZ has really bonded us. We rely on eachother and are sure to call one another, particularly when we need to discuss something going on with our parents. I am really looking forward to the time when we are all grown with our own families. When we can take time out of our daily grind to spend time as a big group (or a small group, who knows!). It will be fun to get together for the holidays and send my kids over to their uncle's house on the weekends. I'm just really excited that the three of us have grown together as we've gotten older, rather then apart.

I've been doing really well at controlling my time on the internet. I am not spending hours at a time looking up Europe stuff or reading travel books. Granted, I haven't filled that time with writing lesson plans, but I will. This Sunday, I have to write my lesson plans for the coming week! I have to promise myself that I will do it! No more slacking off!

I've also started thinking about grad school again lately. I really like the idea of having a Master's degree. This week I've really been feeling called to work with middle school kids. Particularly those without support at home. I have one student who hasn't seen his dad in two days! He lives with the man for crying out loud. What kid of parent... nevermind. I want to work with kids who need to know that someone cares about them, what they do, where they go, and who they are. I think I would like a master's in educational psychology or school counseling. But I'm not sure yet. I will have to check into what I would be able to do with each of those degrees. I have plenty of time for that still. I wouldn't enroll untill 2009 so I have time. It is crazy having that much of my life mapped out already.

The next three months will be spent student teaching. The five months after that I will be in Spain. The one to two months after that will be spent traveling Western Europe. The twelve months after I return from Spain I will be volunteering with JVC. So I am looking to put grad school in after JVC, 23 months from now.

I didn't realize how late it is! It's already after 11p. For someone who goes to bed at 10p on a regular basis, this is pushing it. Tomorrow is a busy day too. I am going to go clean the Fox house at 8a. That will take me 2-3 hours. Then I will donate plasma. That will take me about an hour. Then I can come home and do laundry and what not. Then I babysit from 4:30p-8p. After that I will most likely go home and do nothing, however, I may call Greg and see what he is up to. We shall see. Sunday is church at 10a followed by fellowship (aka lunch). After that I MUST write my lesson plans. If I have time I need to work on my unit plan as well.

Busy busy busy. I'm just glad I made the choice to go to XA even though I wasn't feeling 100%. My brother has deserved that apology for a very long time. I'm glad he finally got it!