The World According to Leslie

Most days, there are just not enough hours to finish the "to do list" I have. There just isn't enough time to do all the things I want to do. I really don't even know where to start with my "to do list" most days. However, I'm learning quickly that there simply isn't enough time to do all I need to do with the Princess. In just a couple weeks (34 days), she is going to be finished with 8th grade. We've already enrolled her in high school for next year. But, what scares me the most (in a good way) is that tomorrow morning, we are going to do our FIRST (of many, I'm sure) college tour!  We are going to be touring Appalachian State University. (I went to school there my first year of college, so I wouldn't be opposed to her being there!! Plus... we could get season passes to Tweetsie so when we go visit!!)  It's crazy to think that there are only 4 short years before she is graduating from high school and going to college. ...

As you all know, we are researching options for The Princess for school next year. I'm sure you're getting tired of hearing about it.  Right now, she's registered at the local public high school in the International Baccalaureate program. We have applied for the NC Virtual Academy, but we won't know for sure about it until the application date is here--April 21. IF they have to do a lottery, they won't do it until April 28th.  WOW!  That seems like so far away, but it's really not!! Anyways.....  We are also looking at homeschooling.  I have been doing my research. I've been looking at the NC requirements and laws online. I've been reading reviews and checking out all the different curricula available. (Maybe not ALL...there are tons out there!) Yesterday, I went "old school"!  I went to the public library to pick up a couple of books about homeschooling. I ended up, actually, going to both of the branches of the public library closes...

"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" Robert Schuller Wow!  Just wow! I have a list, a mile long, of things I want to do. Things I want to try. Things I'm afraid to try. What if I knew I couldn't fail, what would I do? First, I would audition for The Voice.  I love that show. I love singing. If I knew I couldn't fail, sign me up!!  Second, I'd get my dream job. I have a lot of dreams, but my dream teaching job has always been at my alma mater! I'd love to be able to walk into the doors of my old high school every day and teach the kids that come from the same place (background, neighborhoods) as me. I'd be able to relate to kids that understand the history of the school and who understand where you are coming from more than teaching kids that are totally different (socio-economically, location, background) than yourself. It wouldn't be easy, because today's kids are totally different than the kids when I wa...

"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...

Ever get a quote stuck in your head? Ever memorize a quote the first time you heard it? Ever keep the quote in your memory so much that you can still quote it 20 years later? I have. The funny thing is, I still remember the place where I first heard the quote that plays over in my head frequently. "If going through life and you find yourself lost, go back to the last place you knew who you were and what you were doing and start there." (Carol Stack) As a 19 year old, I sat in the lecture hall at Appalachian State University for a required lecture. (We had so many we had to attend per semester for different classes. We had to scan our name badges in so that they would know we attended.) Anyways, this was a required lecture for my Social Studies class. I was sitting the lecture hall about 1/2 way between the front row and the back. I was also sitting in the middle of the row.  So I was almost "dead center" of the lecture hall. The man who did the intro...

Yesterday went well.  I didn't cry when I dropped the Princess off at the high school for Transition Day. (I'm not promising I won't cry when I drop her off for the first day of school next year!) I didn't cry when I picked her up and she was wearing the new shirt they gave all the students that said the school name and "Class of 2021"!!!  (So unreal!) I made it through my speech last night. It was very laid back, and I'm not sure why I haven't been going to the support group over the past two years!  I may start going.... although I'm almost 2 years out from surgery. I may go just to have the group to help keep me motivated when I need it.  Plus, in April, they are discussing smoothie and protein shake recipes.  I need help in that area anyways!  There were two other people on the panel last night. When we finished talking, the group could ask us questions, but there were only like 3 questions. I really thought there would be more!  Eith...

Today, there are a lot of FIRSTS happening in our household. Just a few minutes ago, I dropped the Princess off for Transition Day at the high school. She is going to shadow a student around for a couple of classes. How is it possible that she's going to high school next year? (I guess I'm going to be asking THAT question all summer too, and in a couple years, I'll be asking how she's getting ready to graduate and go to college.)  This is ALL happening too fast. But, today, she gets to spend time, for the first time, in an actual high school class. They are supposed to have a Pep Rally too.  That means she's going to get her first experience of a high school pep rally today!  That's a big deal! If they do the pep rally the way we did them in high school (same school!), it will be AWESOME!! For me, my first today is that I'm going to be speaking at the Weight Loss Surgery Support Group tonight!  Yes!  That's tonight!  I can't believe it got here...

Today is Day #6 of the Writing Challenge. I have noticed that there are quite a few people reading, but only one person has joined in!  It's fun to write together. Join in!!  Leave the link to your writing in the comments! Links to all the previous days are in yesterday's post. Check out Days #1-5 by going to Day #5 . Today's Challenge--"Do you have any strange phobias?" I don't think that my phobias are strange. Other people, who aren't afraid of the same things, may think they are. I am TERRIFIED of dogs. I got bit ONCE! That was all it took. Yes, I did have a dog, once, but he didn't bite me. A family friend's dog bit me when I was looking at her puppies.... not even touching (or trying to touch)... just looking at them in the box! I was 8! I have been terrified of all dogs since then! I am scared of heights! If something is up higher than I am tall, then I have a hard time getting to it. I can't do ladders. I love lighthouses (a...

If I want to write over the summer, I need to find clients now.  Why is it that I am having such a hard time bringing myself to apply for these positions?    I see jobs that I can do.  I know that I can do it. I put the jobs on my “watch list”.  Then I watch them until they have been taken by other people. I just need to work up the courage to apply for the jobs I know I can do.  I may see if I can work for the people I wrote for last summer.  If so, I could totally make some serious money this summer.   I found out yesterday that my oldest nephew made the JV baseball team at his school.  I also found out that he plays his first game today against the school where I work.    So….what’s any good aunt to do?  I’m going to go back to watch him play after I pick up the Princess at school and drop off the other girls from carpool.  Then, at 5:30, I’m going to work the ticket gate.  It only makes sense to get pa...

We are starting to settle into our routine over here.  Today we have softball practice. I hope the girls saw on Saturday how important practice is. They won because of the things that the coaches taught them on Monday night.     Tomorrow I don’t think we have anything.   Wednesday, I have a Girl Scout recruitment. I need a few more girls for the troop so that we can do activities and stuff.    Thursday and Friday I have training at work. I have to get my sub plans together. These are days #3 and #4 of 5 training days I have to do. Day #5 is next Thursday!   So I will only see my kids for 3 days this week, 4 days next week, and 4 days the next. (I am supposed to have another training on Sept. 25th!)  Required trainings that are interesting are not bad. I just wish we could have spaced them all out instead of putting most of them in a 3 week period at the beginning of the semester/year!  LOL  But… we are hoping to get the sam...

I love my job.  The kids are great!  The people I work with are fantastic!  I don’t dread going to work.   You know, we’ve all had a job where you dread going to work.  There is that one part of the job that you just hate!  Last year, we just really hard for me.  It was very hard for me to drive 90 minutes to work.  It was hard for me to take even longer than that to get home.   I have had jobs where it was miniscule things that I didn’t like about them, but there was always something. Cleaning Certain customers Phone calls Getting leads Always working at night Working every Sunday   Something….   Now, I don’t have that!  I don’t mind the drive.  I love the people I’m working with.  I really want to stay there.   However, the job that I think will be my dream job when I get it, was available.  I just found out, through an email, that I didn’t get it.  Ok…so, I never expre...

You know, if I had enough people who would do it, I would start a "bloggy party" on Fridays.  It would be called "Fractured Fridays".  It would be where we would share all the randomness in our brains.  :) For today, I am going to give you MY Fractured Friday.  (Maybe one day, I will have people to do it with me.  Any takers?) 1. My birthday is a week from today.  What does any good teacher do on her birthday?  Take the afternoon off and give a test! :)  2. Softball sign ups are now.  The Princess isn't sure if she wants to play because her really awesome coach from last Spring isn't coming back! :(  One of his kids made a traveling team.  One is going to be on a team from a different church (and we would have to play them!) 3. My Girl Scouts planned out most of the rest of the year last night.  It's cool having older girls!  They can help plan things. 4.  Cookies come in on Tuesday!  I am excited! :)...

When school lets out, my niece (who is a junior in high school) picks my daughter up and takes her to my mom at daycare!  I love it.  It gives my niece a little money every week, and it gets my daughter "home" safely!  My niece goes to the same high school that I went to, my siblings (including her dad) went to, and MY dad (her Grand Dad) went to.  It's a great school.  We just moved into the district so that my daughter, too, will be attending the same high school in a few years. However.... (There's always a "however," right?) However... the rival high school is just up the street (a few miles). The daycare is in the district for the rival high school. :(  So...yesterday, I went to pick up my daughter at daycare.  When I got there, a group of kids from the rival high school were standing in the middle of the intersection where I needed to turn.  (It was a side street, but STILL!) They saw me and moved.  One of them is in my Gi...

Today I found out that I have been placed at A L Brown High School for my Student Teaching. I begin ST on Monday...Jan 11th! I'm excited... ...except for... ...I HATE A L BROWN! Ok! OK! I have never attended there, but they were our rival in high school. So, I have to be very careful not to say anything that will identify me as "the enemy". The rivalry is really bad. People have gotten cut, broken noses, and shot because of the rivalry. I'm just glad that it's not football season. (Football is the biggest rivalry! We have the "Battle for the Bell".) So, I'm going to try to be good so that my car doesn't get keyed or the tires don't get slashed. However, I can NOT under any circumstances wear their school colors. So.... I probably won't get to wear jeans EVER! lol :) I'm just excited to know where I'm going finally. UNCC placed me before Christmas then they changed my placement. So, I only found out today where I will...