The World According to Leslie

"There are more important things in life than winning or losing a game."--Lionel Messi Lionel Messi is a pretty famous soccer player. He probably knows a little something about winning and losing. He's probably experienced both in his lifetime, quite often. Last night, I had the privilege of watching a local high school baseball game. One of my favorite teams, with one of my favorite players, was playing a cross-town rival. At the beginning of the game, the rivals took a 4 to 0 lead over the home team. It wasn't looking good until the pitcher walked a couple batters, one batter got a base hit, and then another (with bases loaded) hit an over the fence grand slam!  The game was tied. A couple of innings later, the home team pulled ahead by a couple of runs. The pitcher was doing a great job. He had walked a couple of batters, but who hasn't? Then, the batter from the rival team leaned into a pitch and the umpired said the pitcher hit the batter. The b...

Since the year The Princess was in third or fourth grade, every year, about this time, I start looking at options for school for her. I have friends and family who homeschool. I always peruse that as an option. I have gone online and figured out what subjects we would need, where we would get them from, and (unfortunately!) the costs. There are some places I can get things online (like secondhand) but I won't start looking in earnest until we make a decision. Homeschooling (probably) gives us the most flexibility with subjects and schedules. When she is listed as a Junior, she can start taking Dual Enrollment classes at the local Community College for high school and college credit (for FREE!!)!!!!  Her fifth grade year, she was at a local Charter school. It didn't work out so well. (We went through 3 teachers and 2 principals in one year.)  I guess we could always look at going back there (now that they have been open and running for a few years) as an option. It's n...

I need help! Those may three of the hardest words to say together in the English language. The other hard three word combos are "I am sorry" and "I was wrong". I've said all of these three word combinations so many times in my life, but for me, personally, the hardest three to say together are "I need help!" I'm a very, very, very (did I say VERY?), type A personality. According to Wikipedia (which is not always right, but can be used for fun information like this), a Type A person can be: "rude ambitious rigidly organized highly status-conscious sensitive impatient anxious proactive concerned with time management People with Type A personalities are often high-achieving "workaholics" They push themselves with deadlines, and hate both delays and ambivalence." Except for the "rigidly organized" and "highly status-conscious," that's pretty much me!!! I work best in stressful situa...

This weekend was pretty good. Actually, I was so exhausted from the weekend that I took a TWO HOUR nap on Sunday!  (I haven't done that in a long time!) Friday, I went to watch my nephew play in a high school baseball game. He is a sophomore, but he's pitching for the Varsity team this year!  YEP!  He's that good!  He even made the local paper for his work at the end of the game on Friday. You can check out the article here . On Saturday, I taught the Sign Language badge at the Girl Scout Badge Bonanza. It's an event where the girls choose what badges they want to earn, and they can earn up to 4 in the day! It was fun!  I haven't done that in a couple of years! Sunday, we had the VBS meeting at church. It went well. We had a good turn out for the first meeting. I'm still going to need more volunteers, but I think I will be able to get them. After church, we met up with an old friend. She gave us some scrapbooking supplies for The Princess's Silve...

Last Friday, Tony and I checked the Princess out of school early. We had the car loaded up, and we headed to Pigeon Forge. The Relentless Youth Group from Remedy Church left earlier that morning for Shabbach Youth Conference 2017. We didn't want her to miss an entire day of school, so we checked her out after 1/2 day. That means that Tony was off work on Friday. We drove up on Friday. We dropped the Princess off with the group just in time for church services on Friday night. We hung out with the group at the Alpine Coaster , where Tony's cart got stuck on the track in the pouring rain! (That's a completely different story!)   We also went to ride go karts and play at the arcade! Sunday, after the morning services, we collected the Princess from the group. We hung around and did some things together as a family. Then we headed home. Tony had some vacation days to use, so he also took Monday off of work. We went grocery shopping (which we normally do on Sun...

Philippians 4:13--"I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me." (KJV) We all know that verse. We all quote that verse. What does it really mean to you? Today, it means that I can do the things I need to do because Christ is giving me the strength. It means that, although Facebook reminded me that 7 years ago today we held my Grandmother's funeral, I can remember the good things about her and know that I will see her again one day. It means that even when times are tough, I am tougher. Today, that verse tells me that no matter what, I have the strength of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I can do anything... even when my body, my mind tells me I can't. It could be the simple things like dealing with the pain in my left shoulder. It could be the more aggravating things like dealing with a teenager! (WOW! Enough said!) It could be big things like dealing with financial situations, jobs, family, and faith. For me today, that verse ...

As we all know, I'm a teacher. I was born to be a teacher. Being a teacher is my calling! As of lately, I have been teaching children's church, and I love that!  It's not half as stressful as a full-time classroom teaching job. (Best part....no grading!!) I have also been teaching at the daycare, when needed. I have been substitute teaching, as well. Some days, I come home in love with teaching. Some days, I come home wishing I had never stepped foot into a classroom. However, teaching is my dream job. Now, as the Princess gets closer and closer (about 9 1/2 weeks) to finishing middle school, I keep thinking how logistically, things are going to change next year. For the past three years, she has had a 9am-4pm (or later if she stayed after for clubs or softball) schedule. Next year, she's going to have a 7:15am-2:15pm schedule. I've lived that schedule. I wasn't a fan of going to work in the dark!!!  Now, I've been thinking that I'd...