The World According to Leslie

I have been waiting for this day for what seems like forever! Today is GOING TO PIGEON FORGE DAY! It's also Pancake Day at the Boys' and Girls' Club in Cabarrus County.  MAYBE I'll get to go by there before we leave, but it's always PACKED! Today checks off one of my 2018 goals!!  I'm so excited! I will post pics and probably do some live Facebook videos while we are there.  I love Pigeon Forge!  (Have I said that before!?) The sad part is that I couldn't convince my parents to go.  So.... I'm going to work on making that happen this summer.... or at Christmas.... or both! :) What amazing things are you doing today???

Today is my final day of the writing challenge. I hope you have enjoyed it. Check out all the other days! Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Link up in the comments to share your Writing Challenge!  As always, I have a lot of goals for the new year. Some of which I can control. Others, I need help to reach. 1. Have a closer walk with God 2. Get a full time job 3. Build my crafty business 4. Build my travel business 5. Write a book 6. Build my blog 7. Get back in to the gym on a regular basis 8. Read a book every month (at least one!) 9. Spend more time with family 10. Keep my house cleaner 11. Pay off bills 12. Save money I could go on and on. We all could. Now....what are your goals for 2017? Link up in the comments!!

Today is Day #2 of my writing challenge. If you missed Day #1, check it out here . Join in; it's never too late to start writing. Yesterday's challenge about songs did not require a lot of thought on my part.  I have music around me all the time. I have been listening to music since before I was born. I have been singing since "before I could talk," if you would have asked my Grandmother before she passed. Today's Challenge: "If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?" In order to answer this, I am going to say that I don't have ONE single person I want to meet. I have a lot of people I want to meet. I have a lot of questions I'd love to ask everyone of them. However, I have a group of people, however silly it may sound, that I would love to meet at some point. Let me preface this by saying that I have watched wrestling on TV since, well, since as long as I can remember. I recall times sitting on the floor at my great-grand...

Thursday, I spent the entire day in training. Because of the class that I teach, there are special trainings I have to attend for strategies to teach the students. I could probably do it without the trainings, but for the school district to “allow” me to do it, I have to be trained.  (But…they pay for the training, materials, and my time!)   Obviously, I had a sub on Thursday. I got to my room yesterday only to realize that all my desks had been moved. They were no longer in the cool zig zag pattern my overly excited brain had designed.  No! They were in boring rows. ARGH!!!   I asked all three of my classes if they had moved them. When I got to 4th period (my 3rd class), I was informed by several students that the substitute said that my desk design was “bothering” her and she didn’t want it to “bug” her any more. So…. she rearranged my room! She also didn’t give the students all the assignments because she “talked to them”. (She left a note to that effect.)...

I have always hated making decisions.   Last night, I made a great one!   After being broken-hearted that I could not make it to scrapbooking, Tony actually got off work in time that I could go. However, after going by my Papaw’s how to get my mom… (She takes his car to him on Fridays.  That’s another story. )…I decided that I would not go scrapbooking. I could have made it for a couple of hours. I decided to spend time with my family.   We haven’t done that in a while. So, we went to the Chinese buffet. After dinner, we went to watch part of the race that is in town this weekend on my dad’s huge TV. My brother and two nephews were there. We stayed until about 9:30pm. Then we left and came home to get some rest.   I wrote my article about my Interpreting career. (When it is posted, I will link it here.)   Then we were all in bed by 11pm.   Now, Tony is already at work.   The Princess is eating breakfast and getting ready...

WOW! I can’t believe that I first posted on this blog on October 25, 2008. That seems like so long ago, but it really isn’t.   6 short years.   In six years, the Princess has started school. She has been a dancer, gymnast, Girl Scout, and wonderful daughter.   In six years, I have started and completed my Master’s degree. Taught for two years and starting my third year next week. Began writing as a freelance writer and getting paid for it.   In six years, Tony has been at the same job the entire time. He has moved up the ladder as far as positions go, and pay, but he has been stable with the same company. That is a blessing!   In six years, we have only moved once, but we stopped renting to become homeowners. We are still unpacking because it is hard to move and work and have a family at the same time.   In six years, I have watched my family get closer as my parents have gotten weaker. Don’t get me wrong! They are still kicking, bu...

I have noticed that I have been slacking off on my writing here. I have not written every day like I was before school let out. It’s not a bad thing I guess, but I feel weird when I have had a day or so off. I never know what to come back to write about.   Work starts back on August 19th officially for me. School starts back for the Princess on August 26th.   We have had two vacations already this year. We are looking at two more. That’s the best part about me having a job. We get to plan to do more things.  More pictures for the scrapbooks. More time with the Princess and the family.   For Labor Day, I think we are going to go to Boone and visit Tweetsie. The Princess earned tickets through Girl Scout cookie sales again. I think we will head up there that weekend.   Then…right after Christmas, we are planning to kidnap my parents and head to Gatlinburg again. This will be the third year in a row! The first year was to get Tony some new boots. ...

On Saturday, we packed up our stuff and my parents’ stuff and headed to Myrtle Beach.   When we arrived, we discovered that the place we had rented was NOTHING like they described it on the internet, so we ended up repacking the car and getting the rental place to give us a different place.   It was nicer, but still not what was explained on the internet.   There was no internet access, so I had to use the hot spot on my phone. That lead to my internet freezing up.   Today, we packed everything up and came back home. Now I need a vacation from my vacation!     There will be pics of vacation soon.   Right now, I have to catch up some writing…since there was no internet and I couldn’t get anything done there.    And… I need to get some rest. Vacations are the worst for making you tired.  Right?

I can’t believe that in the morning we are going to be leaving to head home.  The weekend is almost over!  That’s crazy!   Now I am going to need a vacation from my vacation!  LOL  Isn’t that how it always goes?

So we are in Hilton Head.  It’s beautiful.  Everything is “hidden” behind trees.   Points of issue: 1.  The “beach resort” is a 10-15 minute walk to the actual beach.  2. It’s hot!  (LOL  No one can control that.  But… you all know I prefer winter!) 3. Most everything we have wanted to do is across the bridge.  That means $1.25 each way for the toll.  4. It’s still hot!   I guess those are my only real complaints.   Darn!  I was hoping to find something to complain about!  (Just Kidding!!!)   Guess I’m just having a good vacation!

So…I’m a day late on Father’s Day.  But….that’s because I was with my Father!     There is a running joke in our family.  I have an older brother and a younger sister.  We tell everyone that Donnie is the favorite.  DUH!  We all know that!  Then Lisa and I “fight” for favorite daughter.    Since I do a lot of stuff for my parents, more than my siblings, I tell them I know I’m the favorite.  I don’t do it because I want the attention.  I do it because I know they need the help.  I get a couple extra drinks at the store and take them over because I know my parents can’t carry them.  Mom’s knees are bad, and Dad is on a walker. (But…that’s a different story!)   So yesterday I posted on Facebook a Happy Father’s Day message to my dad and said it was from his “Favorite” daughter.  One of my friends accused me of trying to start a fight in the family.  I had to explain that it was all a big joke...

In just a few minutes, we are leaving to head to the Girls on the Run 5K!  Tony and I are walking in it with the Princess!     Tomorrow, I should have pics of her at the race and with her medal!    I’m afraid for how my legs are going to feel after this.  I might not be able to walk.   However, a 5K has always been on my bucket list.  I just was hoping to be in shape and not afraid of dying from doing it!

As of 11am yesterday, I am on SPRING BREAK!  One rule for Spring Break is DO NOT WAKE ME UNTIL THE SUN IS UP (except Easter Sunday when we go to SONrise service)!!! This morning, I slept until 8:15!  It was so awesome!  The sun was coming in my window!  The alarm never went off--wasn't even set!  Now, we have softball at 11am! We have an Easter egg hunt (with a local church and 20,000 Easter eggs!) at 2pm!  Then we have to come home and get cleaned up to go to my parents for dinner.  Supposedly all the kids (Donnie, Lisa, and me) and our families are going to be there! In between those, we might go help my parents with some yard work if they want us to (if they are ready to do it today!)!!!!  It's going to be a busy day!  Can't wait to see the WHOLE family! :)

Today is my BIRTHDAY!!!  At 2:45am, I turned 35!  WOW!  (I'm getting old!) So there are some things I want to work on this year.  (I don't make New Year's Resolutions, but I do try to do things differently on my birthday!) 1. Stop stressing over the little stuff.  To me, in recent years, everything has been "big" stuff.  Not now! 2. Lose a little weight.  I'm not setting a goal of 100 lbs or anything, but I want to get back on track with losing weight again. 3. Have more family time!  I want to spend more quality time with the family!  I think that it would help our family dynamic.  I think it would also help Chasity to excel (even more) in all her activities. Thanks for all the birthday wishes already!  Some of my friends, who know there is NO WAY they will wake up before me, posted "Happy Birthday" for me last night so I would get it this morning!  You guys are the best!  I hope you all have a great day!