A post of all posts...I'm serious!

I am writing this on November 18, 2009. I have no idea when I will actually post this for all the world to see. I absolutely do not want to forget any of what I am feeling at this moment in time.

I am pregnant!

About 8 weeks pregnant!

We found out last night!

This is our story of what led us to today.

My last cycle was supposed to start on Monday, October 19th. It didn’t come. My immediate thought went to the fact that Clint and I had started working out at the YMCA 5 days a week. I had always heard that when you become active after not being an active person, it can throw your whole body out of whack. That is where my thoughts were for the last 29 days. I did take a test on October 22nd….3 to be exact…and they all came back negative. So I chalked it up to the whole active thing.

As the days passed from October 19th to November 17th, I didn’t think much about it. Every once in a while, thoughts would creep in my head about my cycles being all messed up now and not being able to know when I would ovulate again. I never really thought I could be pregnant.

Until…

My boobs hurt SO incredibly bad. And I was SO SO tired! For about a week the thoughts of “maybe this could be it” crept in my head, then I would push them aside not wanting to get my hopes up. I even said something to Clint this past Monday night and he even pushed it aside.

Tuesday morning, November 17th, my coffee pot DIED! So that afternoon, I knew I had to make a stop to replace it, because you know I need my coffee. As I pulled into Target, I thought…”I should get a test.” I got my coffee pot and my pack of two tests and I was off for home. On my way I got to talk to my friend Holly and catch up on the newest news of her adoption journey. Once I arrived home, I stayed in my car to finish my conversation, said my goodbyes and up the stairs I went.

After doing my business in the bathroom, I put the stick on the counter vowing to return only AFTER the 3 minutes had passed. I went to the computer room to check my facebook, allowing the time to slip away from me. When I went to check the stick I was a little confused because this time, I saw TWO pink lines. I read and re-read the directions over and over and over again to make sure I understood what I was seeing. I immediately unwrapped the second test and let it work its magic. Sure enough 2 pink lines.

Pause here: Before this moment, Clint and I discussed that we would each choose ONE person, not family, to tell right away, everyone else would have to wait until we had the all clear.

Resume: After the second test, I grabbed my phone and called my best friend and Matron of Honor, Karen. She picked up the phone, said hello to which I replied “I’m Pregnant!” SILENCE on the other end, which if you know Karen, is SO not normal. Then….she SCREAMED! The rest was a bunch of excitement and recounting the events of the prior month. It was during this conversation that I revealed that 2 tests weren’t enough to convince me and that I wanted to take 2 more! She said for me to go for it!

As soon as we hung up, I was off. I went straight to CVS, driving a little more carefully at this point and made my purchase. Somehow I had enough brains about me to know that I would now need decaff coffee, so I bought that too.

When I got home, I took those two tests. These were the type that actually said the words pregnant or not pregnant. Both of them said pregnant! Yay!

My plans of working out for the evening were long gone! I now had an hour and a half to wait for Clint to get home, and an hour and a half to figure out how to tell him our good news. I knew if I gave him a random gift, he would know something was up. I knew if I gave him a card, he would know something was up. So, I had a new plan, thanks to my BFF Karen.

I took several pictures of the positive tests until I found one that was as clear as possible. I then transferred the picture to our computer and put it as the desktop background. My plan was to get Clint to come into the computer room to show him something and with the wiggle of the mouse, have it all unfold before his very eyes.

The plan worked! He came home and I tried to be as normal as possible. I felt TOTALLY abnormal and felt like I was forcing my words and actions. He had no idea anything was up. I told him to go to the computer room because I wanted to show him something. He wiggled the mouse as my heart beat a million miles a minute and there it was! He said “What?!!? Are you Serious? How did you do that? For real?” It was great! We embraced and the rest is history!

My next post will involve how we tell our families and especially my sister who is flying home from Colorado on Thanksgiving day and Clint and I are scheduled to pick her up! SO FUN!

Diseases

So here is a short, funny one for ya!

Today we finished up Chapter 13 which has been all about DNA and Heredity. The kids have really gotten into it and enjoyed learning about these subjects.

We finished up by talking about 3 different diseases that are hereditary. Down Syndrome, Sickle Cell Anemia and Cystic Fibrosis. We talked about them in detail and I made the students wait until the very end of the lesson to ask any questions.

Finally the end came and a boy asked “what is the disease that causes you not to be able to play sports?”

One of my more….uh….”nerdy” (I know that’s not nice, but I need you to picture him) boys spoke out (without permission of course) and said “Athlete’s Foot!!” We all got a good laugh out of that one!

2 more classes left today then I am going home to crash! OH so tired! 3 more teaching days until Thanksgiving Break! WOOHOO!

Until next time,
Sam

Panic

This past Sunday, Clint and I didn't have to work in Children's Church so we were upstairs taking part in the Sunday morning church service. As soon as the Pastor went to the invitation time, I slipped out to make my way downstairs to the kiddos. We were trying a new dismissal pattern from children's church, so I wanted to assist the teachers and kids as best I could.

When I arrived downstairs, the 4Kers-1st graders were busily finishing up their craft. The 2-5th grade boys were in the lesson room and the 2-5th grade girls were finishing up snack. I was chatting with one of the teachers in the snack room when another teacher came in. He said to his wife "Lori, I can't find Trent and Jacob. Help me find them."

I didn't start to panic right then. I thought for sure they would be in the bathroom. After a quick check of the bathroom with no luck, my heart started to race. We looked everywhere we could in a span of about 1 minute and a half. I was VERY close to running upstairs to get their parents to inform them that we lost their children, when I heard someone say "we found them!" I felt immediate relief, then immediate frustration when I found out their were hiding! They had snuck down the hallway into an empty classroom and stood their with the purpose of hiding from their friends. Both boys are in 4th grade. They saw me come into the lesson room, and KNEW it was not going to be a good conversation we were about to have!

I informed them that church was not the place to be silly like that. I gave them the do's and dont's and let them know I would be telling their parents. I also told them that my heart was about to beat out of my chest and that they had 5 adults searching for them. They were shocked.

At the end of children's church, I had to tell their parents. Both sets were very understanding and very much shocked at their behavior. The most awkward part came when I had to tell the parents of the second boy...his dad is my BIG boss at school, the principal. WOW!

All is well now, but boy was I scared! I checked my school mail box today and got a letter from one of the boys that said this:

"Dear Mrs. Thompson, I'm sorry for hiding during church. It was wrong. It won't happen again. Thank you for taking care of us in children's church. I love Children's Church. From Trent.
P.S. If you want to write a note back, put it in my mom's box."

What a cutie! I am even more impressed with the fact that his parents made him write me a note. SO not the norm these days!

Until next time,
Sam

The Visit

I posted last time about my grandparents coming to visit during one of the busiest weeks of the school year. They came, we survived, and I am left to pick up the pieces!

Wednesday was Veterans Day, so thankfully, I had the day off. My grandparents arrived about 1:00 in the afternoon, just in time for a yummy lunch of home made mini burgers, chips and a veggie tray! It was delish! Clint headed off to work and my grandparents and I made our way to an Amish bakery (YUM), a goat farm and big lots. We had a good time of being tourists.

Thursday, I was off to work while leaving them home with Clint for the day. They were to meet me at school about 3:00 for the Harvest Festival. I got a text from Clint that said “Just finished hour two of antique shops…HELP” Bless his heart! He won the husband of the year award just for that experience!

They met me at 3:00 and we enjoyed the evening of Harvest Fest although I found myself running from one booth to another and making sure that they were taken care of. It was a stressful evening, but fun at the same time. We did not get home until about 11:00 and I was asleep by 11:30. Crazy!

Friday I had to teach a full day of classes, which, in my opinion (that no one cares about) we should have the Harvest Fest on Friday since the kids were out of it on Thursday and Friday. But what do I know?!?!? Friday was one crazy crazy day! I couldn’t wait to come home and do nothing…nothing with company that is. As soon as I entered the door, my grandparents were sitting at the table playing a card game. They had gone earlier in the day and picked up my new china cabinet, which they gave us as an early Christmas gift. I was thrilled to see it and I absolutely love it! But on to my story… I hadn’t even sat down before my grandma pulled out a note of things to remind me of. She went on to inform me that the sponge that I use to wash dishes with is full of germs and that it needs to be thrown away and she will be making me some dish rags to use. She also let me know that my electric can opener is germ infested and needs to be thrown away as well. Oh, and Sami, one more thing, NEVER put cucumbers in plastic bags in your fridge! SHEESH!!! I was trying to keep my cool, but a good vent on Facebook was what got me through. I know she means well, but I wanted to say, IT”S MY HOUSE and I AM A BIG GIRL! I have NEVER met anyone like her! We ended the evening watching Baby Mama…very funny!

Saturday we woke up super early to head to a 400 booth craft fair in Moultrie about 30 minutes away. We got off just in time and met my awesome mother-in-law there! She is such a good sport! We did have a good time with the exception of my grandma talking to everyone she crossed paths with and telling story after story after story and stopping to do so, even if there were 300 people waiting to get passed us!

Sunday we awoke and went about our business and got ready for church. We hugged them goodbye and off we went! I had a BIG meeting to run after church and I was a nervous wreck! The meeting went well, but by the time it was over, I was exhausted. We got home, took a long nap, got up to eat and went back to bed!

It is now Monday afternoon and I am overwhelmed by the amount of work I have left to do! Grade papers that didn’t get graded. Laundry that didn’t get washed. Grocery shopping so we don’t starve and a little bit of nice, neat orderliness back to my quiet little life.

We had a good time, but you know what they say, “all good things must come to an end!”

From the stress of it all, I am now getting sick and have acquired two cold sores on my top lip! BOO!

Oh yeah, and I just found out I am getting a new student tomorrow! HELP!

Until next time,
Sam

Scarce

So I’ve been told that I have been scarce around the blog world lately….so true…but not on purpose. I had an entire post that I typed as a Word document, and for some reason, closed out of it and clicked NO when it asked me to save it. Grrrrr! I was so mad at myself!

Things are going well for us. Staying busy, busy, busy which is somewhat normal for us this time of year! My second job is picking up steam and it seems I find myself in lots more meetings and responding to lots more emails. I still like it, but at times it feels like a full time job!

Home life is good. We are mostly settled into our new apartment. I am ready to raise Cain with the apartment people due to the NON-working stove, OLD dishwasher and TERRIBLE water faucets. I have been nice….but my patience is being tested and they are about to see another side of me. We are paying big bucks to live there…if they don’t fix the things we want fixed…we can move somewhere else…plain and simple!

My grandparents are coming to visit us next week. They will arrive Wednesday afternoon (I am off that day) and will leave Sunday morning when we leave for church. I am glad to have them, but this particular week just happens to be THE busiest week for us for the rest of 2009. Hopefully I can get it all done! Help me Jesus!

School is okay. I am still loving the 6th graders, but there are times that I just want to run back to my “babies” and hear “I love you Mrs. Thompson” one more time. There isn’t much of that with the big kids. The big kids still do funny things though!

For example:

L: Mrs. T, if I ask you to go to the bathroom later, I really gotta go
Me: Why?
L: ‘cause me and my momma are doin a watermelon flush; all I am eatin is watermelon

Sure enough that is all she had at lunch…a big tub of watermelon. Oh and of course about 10 pieces of Halloween candy. When I asked her about the candy, she said, “if I don’t eat it, then it will go stale…we can’t have that now!” A hoot!

My sister Danielle, the one in Denver, wasn’t planning to come home until Christmas. Since she works at a Homeless rescue mission, Thanksgiving is a huge time for them. Well, we got a call Monday that she managed to get Thanksgiving day off. So she flies into Atlanta at 6 am Thanksgiving morning and flies out SUPER early on Friday. We are SO EXCITED to get to see her, but are praying that the weather does well so she can actually make those flights. Makes me nervous.

I went home this past week. I had a marvelous time visiting with all my family! Somehow I managed to spend time with Mom and Larry, Dad and Cindy, Katy and Mark, Grandma and Grandpa, Mike, Megan and Allison and my BFF Karen all in a 2 day time span. No wonder I am so tired!

I learned some things while home that I have always known, but never wanted to admit. I can’t really go into detail since some of my family reads this. It is not a huge deal or anything, but definitely stuff that weighs on my heart and mind. I am praying that God will take care of it…I know He can.

I have a meeting tonight with some Children’s ministry workers. I am prepared, yet nervous. You never know what people are going to say or issues they will bring up. Somehow I ended up being the person that has to get our dinner from point A to point B and set up the room all nice and neat. Let’s hope that goes well. I just have to tell myself that in 5 hours it will be over and I will be on my way home to bed!

We are having a HUGE HUGE HUGE Harvest Festival next Thursday. It is a huge event that involves the WHOLE school and is our BIG money raising event of the year. Not only am I in charge of the Soda Bottle ring toss booth, but also am in charge of setting up a booth to advertise our Children’s Ministry. However, until yesterday, I forgot about that second part. So I am SCRAMBLING to pull it together! I ordered some cards to lay out and give away, I have plenty of candy and left over trinkets from VBS….all I really have to do is make a backboard with pictures and times of our events. I am not the most creative person you will meet, but I am gonna do my best!

Speaking of best…must finish lesson plans! I will do my best to keep this thing updated a little more often…promise!

Love to you all!
Until next time,
Sam