Hello everyone!

It's one step closer to the end of summer for me. Actually, I'm excited about getting back into my classroom and starting on my National Board certification. I got an interest-free loan for the entry fee ($2300) from a local bank. All I have to do is turn in two more pieces of paperwork on Tuesday morning, pick up the check Tuesday afternoon, and mail it off. Then I wait patiently for my big box of materials.

Monday, son and I are going to southern Illinois to look at one last college, then that's it for the college visits! I can't believe he's going to be gone in a year.

Speaking of son...he finally got my birthday present and hooked it up: Dance Dance Revolution for the XBox. Oh my GOSH it is SO fun! DD and I played it for about a half hour last night.

I want to play Jenelle!

I am so tired right now I have nothing to say. I am planning to reenter the gym tommorow so you gals please wish me luck. 60 minutes doesn't mean I am obsessed, it means I am making a choice out of self-discipline and love. Wrapping my head around it. :P

Chris

Chris - You might even just start off with 30 minutes. I will be thinking of you.

Jennelle -- How exciting that you'll get your box o' goodies soon! You'll have to let me know what you think of the process. The ladies I know who have gone through with it found it very rewarding. They also got a hefty bonus from the state and county the first year after they received their national certification! That was nice, huh?

I'm actually ready to begin thinking about back to school, too. It's funny. This time of year...before you actually have a class...everything seems possible and sooo exciting. Then, after you get your group, reality sets in and while it's still exciting, it's much more challenging, too.

Chris -- I'll be thinking of you at the gym. Just have fun! Speaking of which, whatever happened to your big ol' exercise ball anyway? You can do it tomorrow! I know you can!

Are things all straightened out from the crane incident last week? Sounds harrowing! Your line of work seems a bit more dangerous than mine.

I have enjoyed reading the "Our Stories" thread and have went in to post mine a couple of times. I actually typed it out once and then deleted it. I think that deep down I really feel I have no story. Not compared to you ladies anyway. I was moved to tears by Chris', Jennelle's, and Michelle's, but mine seems really trivial and wimpy. Maybe I'll get up the nerve this week to type it and actually click "submit". LOL

Things are going well around here. The girls and I are getting a lot done around the house and having fun, too. I went in last week to sign my contract for next year and got a fabulous raise. (whispers...around 25%! More than all of my other raises from previous years put together!!) So I've been pretty much on about that. Food? No bingeing, no obsession but no significant weight loss either. Oh well, it'll come eventually.

Whew, maybe I should put forth more effort to post everyday so I don't write a novel, huh? No, if memory serves me correctly I talk a lot even then, don't I?

Have a wonderful evening! I'm off to enjoy some "quality time" with DH.

Hugs,
Christy

Christy - No one's story is "trivial." Please feel free to share! And, the main reason I decided to do National Boards was for the mentor teacher, but I'll admit that the extra $6,000 a year I'll get from the state is an incentive.

It's good to see the chatting!

I am doing all right. Getting back on the workout wagon (pretty much slipped entirely off since MIL's passing). Food is getting healthier, also.

Hey Ladies -

I just felt like posting. "Tired" is a big trigger for me, and I am wiped out! I didn't get much sleep last night - had to pick up son from work at 11:15, and of course he got out late, so we didn't get home until almost midnight. I was in bed by about 12:20, but had to be up at 5:00 to drive son to Illinois for a college visit. He didn't bother going to bed at all, but he had the luxury of being able to sleep on the way there and back - not something the driver can do! I ended up pulling over right over the IL/MO line on the way back and taking a 20-minute power nap at a truck stop.

So, now I'm exhausted but I don't want to go to bed now (it's only 7:30) for fear that I will be awake again at 1:00 a.m. But I also want to make sure I don't let my state of mind dictate my eating habits, so I guess I'm just here posting for accountability.

Maybe I'll go finish my cross-stitch...

Amen Jenelle and Congrats on the raise Christy.

Tired is a huge trigger for me along with emotions. But addictions are meant to be managed right Sorry I am feeling a little bleak today.

We got to keep working Kat, ODAT.

Thank you all for being here I feel less alone.
Big hug,
Chris

Kat -- Glad to see you posting again!

Jennelle -- You were definitely busy yesterday. How did the college visit go? How are you handling this upcoming transition? I'll probably fall apart when it comes time for my girls to go. I bawled like a big baby watching their dance recital video the other day. Sheesh!

Chris -- Great to "see" you on here again. I miss your posts, although I'm just as bad! I guess I'm still a lurker at heart. Thanks for the congrat on my raise! I told my DH that I actually "feel" like a professional now that I'm going to be paid more like one.

Michelle -- I'm a teacher, like Jennelle. Third grade for me. The upcoming year will be my tenth. Have fun planning that birthday party. Gosh, that's always been one of my favorite things to do for my girls. Are you doing cool themed snacks, too? Thinking about it makes me wish I had one to plan sooner!

Thanks for the encouragement to share my story. I should have time to do that later today. This morning I'm in cleaning mode!

Have a great day!
Christy

Hey Christy- I got a house you can clean

Michelle- Yeah triggers for me sometimes feel like they include life, any emotion, and breathing. Third birthday party. Don't go overboard, they remember nothing I tell you except cake and playing with their friends.

Making it harder to post in the boards and I haven't journaled at all is that I have been writing. Last night I started a story and burned through 7 pages and over 3000 words. I am taking Stephen Kings advice and letting the story write itself. So far I am not sure if I have one story or two or 3. In fact the whole thing might suck, but it makes me feel good to do it.

Here's an except maybe all you teachers can help me out. I hate that first line, and in the beginning. Sounds like I am stealing from the bible

And in the beginning there was a woman. A mousy, shy, smart woman with low self-esteem and an ache in her heart to be across the sea. Her man was there and that is where she needed to be. Being 7 or 8 months pregnant would not stop her and in 1972 there was no reason to. She was allowed on board the airplane with a low backache and not even a thought of the implication. When you have never been a mother before back’s just ache.

The backache came around the front of her shortly after they gained altitude. The man in the seat next to her became uncomfortable with her short gasps for breath and two hours into the long flight to Europe was asking the stewardess for help. At this point she could not deny what was happening. Over the Atlantic Ocean she cried out and the plane was turned around for an emergency landing in Bangor, Maine. The plan landed shortly after 7 pm and the woman was rushed off. Twenty minutes later the thing separating her from the man she ached for entered the world and she was alone.

She was alone from him anyway, and her family and anyone else that could nurture her. Alone with the alien that burst forth too early, letting her know that God has his own plans and they have nothing to do with you.

There were write-ups in the paper and a social worker went to the state capital in order to unite the small family. The passport for the infant was stamped and within 3 weeks the woman was again off to Europe to be united with her man. After him she called the baby girl Michele.

Okay its not that great, but its mine and I got more like it
Chris

I want to know what happens next!!!! Noooo don't leave me in suspense!!!

I love it chris!! Good job

Chris - I am a frustrated novelist,too. My best piece of advice to you would be exactly what you heard Stephen King say: Let the story write itself. Write it, put it away for a couple of weeks, then pull it back down and re-read and revise. If you're like me, it will take forever to get it just right. (I'm a "terminal proofreader!" ) Just remember to keep me in mind when you sell your millionth copy.

Michele - I LOVE to cross-stitch! I don't get a lot of time to do it except for in the summer. I used to be pretty good, but I'm out of practice. I have some pretty substantial projects waiting to be finished. One is a sampler, but it's got a bunch of specialty stiches. Another one is a wedding announcement that I was going to do for a friend, but (and this is going to sound terrible!) I don't know if I want to do all that work for something that has about a 25% chance of actually lasting beyond a year or two. (Long story.) I decided to go ahead and make it for me and hubby, since we didn't even have a "real" wedding. Its finished size is 12x18, and it's on 32-count Aida worked over two stitches. I might finish it by our 50th anniversary!

Christy - I'm experiencing mixed emotions regarding the whole sending him off to college thing. On one hand, I'm sort of congratulating myself on a job well done (with kudos to husband, who is a really good dad). I've managed to wind up with a son who is very intelligent, has a hilarious dry wit, and is self-sufficient (except for the fact that he still doesn't have a driver's license!). On the other hand, I will miss him SO much when he goes off to school. The relationship will really change when he's gone for a while. I will just have to remember to treat him like an adult.

At least I got some sleep last night!

Jenelle it's so funny that you say that because when I was thinking of people I know with writing skills your name popped to the top of my list. King actuall says to write a couple of thousand words every day. I wonder if you can start new stories every day?

Thank you Michelle. Your a sweetheart.

You all should tell me to eat something. Anything
Chris

Too funny...where is Ellis now that all these writers are coming out of the woodwork?

Jennelle says she's a frustrated novelist, so Chris, does your story feel like a novel or a short story? I think it would be fine to start something different every day or whenever you feel like it! I agree about the proofreading thing. Sometimes I'll look things over a dozen times and find nothing wrong. But when I put it aside and come back to it, three or four things will jump out at me immediately. I'm also a terminal reviser. I'll rewrite the same sentence five different ways before settling upon one. (I even do this in my own personal journals. I've tried stream of consciousness stuff, but it drives me nuts! I've gotta punctuate! English majors live a rough life, right Jennelle?)

I would consider myself more of a poet than a novelist. Although I do still have a notebook from high school where I was writing some long story filled with much tragedy and angst. Tee hee...all this typing about writing reminds me of a comment my advanced expository composition (??) professor used on my papers time and time again. "Wonderful, but work on the wordiness." I wonder what she could have meant by that? Hmm...maybe we should start a frustrated writers' thread here on the ED forum.

Jennelle -- I used to love to cross stitch before I had children. Don't have the patience for it anymore for some reason. In fact, I was cleaning out a closet the other day and found a birth announcement that I had started for my younger daughter. It was only about 1/3 finished. Bad mommy...

Chris -- Go eat something...anything!

Later,
Christy