The obligatory Thanksgiving post

As a blogger, I think there is a law somewhere that says I have to post a list of things I am thankful for at Thanksgiving. If I don't, I get thrown in blogger jail where baby rats nibble at my fingers and toes all day long. Since right now I am very thankful to be holding the cutest, sweetest, happiest 10 week old in history (who is fascinated by the words appearing on the screen), it seems a good time. So, here we are in no particular order except the order that I think of them:

Things Sarah Is Thankful For:

1. Abby and Brian (come on, you knew that one was coming)
2. The rest of my family :)
3. My friends
4. Ramses, my awesome Ford Escape
5. Flat Cherry Coke Zero
6. My WLS
7. Jeans
8. Naps
9. My job - sometimes
10. This sweet baby in my lap (I know I already mentioned him - it's Brian - but he's really really sweet.)
11. Digital cameras
12. Facebook for stalking people
13. The internet in general for being a terrific time waster
14. La'Nasia for saying something that makes me laugh every day
15. UNC basketball
16. USA network for making awesome shows like Monk, Psych, and Burn Notice
17. Game Club
18. My church, West End Pres, and the Young Adults group there
19. Dishwashers and washing machines
20. Abby (because it's not fair for Brian to get two mentions and her to only get one)
21. Treadmills with individual TVs at the gym
22. Power windows
23. Having 4 distinct seasons
24. Starter logs for my fireplace
25. Christ

Ok, people. That's as sappy as I get. I've had a crazy week but luckily it was a short holiday week! I'm spending Thanksgiving in Lynchburg with all of my crazy family. Have a great time so far :)

I think I hear Abby waking up. Better go get her!

Warm fuzzies

Sometimes being a teacher leads to great moments. (And often it leads to very stressful moments, but this is not about those) Last week, my 3rd graders were using a basic template to write a poem about something they like. Here's sweet Daija's poem:

Ms. Nash

I like Ms. Nash
Ask me why
Because she is beautful
Because she is funny
Because she bring books to me
Because she is nice
Because she help me on my test
Because she have nice hair
Because she have nice jewelry
Because
Because
Because
I like Ms. Nash

Not to be outdone, Tre'Shanna threw away the template and produced this one:

I like Ms. Nash

She is nice to me
and she help me on
everthing and she
help me on the test
and she her hiar is long
and her shirt is my
fivorte coler love
Tre'Shanna

We may have some work on spelling and grammer to do still :), but I may frame them anyway. I just love these kids! Last week's dance party was another example of how awesome they are :)

Today I went to Charlottesville to shop with my cool friends Sarah and Meg who used to teach with me. We went to the Barracks Road shopping center and David Baldacci was there speaking and signing books at the Barnes and Noble! I love his books and was so excited. Sarah and Meg patiently waited over an hour while I listened to him talk and waited in line to get him to sign a book to my grandmother (I was #65 in line!)

I have decided that in order to solidify my status as a young adult woman, I need to join a book club. Because that's what we do. So I am now officially looking for a book club to join. I don't know how to begin. Any ideas?

Surviving :)

God was so good to me yesterday.

Someone must have been praying for me, because I admit- I didn't take the time to do it for myself. It was a long day at school - we had a parent workshop last evening and I'm on the committee in charge of it. But Title 1 pays for a lot of the stuff, and I had some Title 1 requirements to meet as well, so I had a big part in pulling it off. I was at school for 12 1/2 hours yesterday which were completely and totally filled with business. I didn't stop to rest at all. (Well, I did get to sit down and eat my lunch. That was nice.) I had a to-do list that blew my mind. The workshop was taking place in 6 different classrooms so I had to be sure we had everything and distribute it between the classrooms. Usually having this much on my plate causes me to hyperventilate and cry ;)

Yesterday it didn't.

I calmly went from one task to the next, checking them off and moving to the next. I (amazingly) didn't get tired or run down. It just got done and the whole thing got pulled off. I won't say without a hitch b/c there were hitches - but everything worked out. The evening was well attended and, even better, it's over!

Today is Friday, the last day of this crazy week. I have a Title 1 meeting all day today. While this may sound like a relief, these meetings inevitably stress me out more than I was before because of all the paperwork and procedures. Plus, Fridays I don't teach as many groups at school so I can get caught up on my paperwork - which I have a lot of at the moment. So this meeting is really the last thing I want to be doing. But I have learned that, as someone says, "If God brings you to it, he will get you through it." Now I know that saying should be applied in more dire situations than mine, but I'm using it anyway.

And tonight - I get to hang out with some good friends! And tomorrow - possibly more good friends! And that will just make it all better. Then next week - Thanksgiving!!!!!

So, thank you for your kind words and supports. And especially your prayers, you mystery prayers out there!

A tired, grumpy Gus

That's me. It was such a long day today. I ate all 3 of my meals at meetings - now tell me that doesn't just scream FUN to you!!

Tomorrow is a parent workshop that I've been working on and it's causing me major stress. I'll be happy when it's over with. Then Friday I have a Title 1 meeting all day long which always makes me feel more stressed - so I'm just holding on until Friday afternoon.

Today I got an email which made me so mad that I cried. I have been trying to get the answer to a procedural question - which really should be a fairly routine thing - for over 2 months now. I emailed the girl for the 4th time on Monday and today I got her reply. Not only did the answer not make any sense and only added to the confusion, she added "In the future, you should ask this question earlier." I just keep reminding myself - I have been forgiven for so much, I can forgive others. I make a lot of mistakes, too. By the grace of God, I did not slap anyone today. I will continue to pray about tomorrow...

Which brings me to this point - when I get mad, I always cry. Does anyone else do that? Then I get madder because crying is NOT the reaction that I want to be having. I'm MAD and I want people to know it!!! So then I just cry more. It's pitiful.

To add to my frustration, Tyler Zeller - a very talented freshman who we were really counting on, especially with Hansbrough out - is out for the season with a broken wrist and I won't get to see the next game on Friday night. And I'm not losing weight anymore, apparently. I guess my body got tired of that game. Plus my cats will not stop walking on me no matter how hard I throw them. I'm getting dangerously close to taking one of my dad's suggestions on how to deal with these creatures.

Not to mention that I can no longer eat my frustrations away. Which I suppose I should be thankful for. And may be someday. But for now I just want to spend money instead. I almost bought a Wii tonight. Just because. But honest to goodness when would I play it? Plus, apparently all of my money is going towards buying pizza for the workshop tomorrow night. Ok, we are NOT going back to that issue. No. We are not.

I could go on because my life's frustrations are multitudonous. (I am a Master of Reading. If I say it's a word, it's a word) But I suppose I'll stop. Because that way I can go to bed.

So happy

Busy, busy, crazy week filled with lots of frustrations...but I just got to watch my first UNC game of the season! The boys are looking really good, despite a rash of key injuries. Hopefully we'll be back up to full strength before conference play starts.

Yay! GO UNC BASKETBALL!!!!

(Did I mention they won? That should pretty much be assumed.)

What 100 pounds looks like - Sarah style

I've been in one of those vicious cycles where I keep thinking of things to write about, then I don't, so I feel like there is more that I have to write about so the task becomes overwhelming so I don't do it, and then there is more stuff to write about so it's more overwhelming... know what I mean?

Anyway, I've realized that it's just a blog. About nothing but me. So I can relax a bit. Speaking of the "about nothing but me" part - I feel like I owe you (the great collective "you" that is out there reading this) an apology/explanation: This blog is completely, totally self-centered. That feels very self-absorbed of me. But I really only started it as away for me to have like a journal of my experiences after WLS. Of course, now I write about other things in my life as well. And I'm glad that so many of my friends read it :) But that's why it's only ever about me. Sorry about that.

I can't believe I'm doing this on this very public internet, but here it is. My "before" picture (I could have at least fixed myself up a little don't you think?) and my "I've lost 100 pounds" picture. I've been taking pictures all along (definitely something I would encourage you to do, by the way, if you are considering or have had the surgery) (or are losing weight another way), but always considered them very private. But for some reason I'm feeling brave enough to show them to you tonight. So here they are:


Can you tell which is the before and which is the after? ;) (I'm kidding, of course. Even I can see the difference there). I've been doing these with the self-timer on my camera and they haven't been coming out great. My friend Laura took the most recent one last night, though, and I think I'm going to get her to do them all from now on because I'm pretty sure I look skinnier in that picture than I do in real life :)

The greatest time of the year is upon us, people. That's right - CAROLINA BASKETBALL SEASON HAS STARTED!!!!!!!! My Heels opened up their season with a 15-point win over Penn yesterday which I, much to my everlasting consternation, did not get to see. I realize that a 15-point win over Penn is not very impressive. Especially for a team that is ranked unanimously #1 by everyone who does these things and is bombarded by talk of the "undefeated season". (I hate that talk, by the way. Absolutely, positively, hate it. I'm going on record right now as saying that I won't be completely devastated if we lose an early season game - before conference play starts of course - just to shut that up. ) But our injury list reads like a top-1o team all on its own. Hopefully we should get most of our major players back soon. Next up - Kentucky on Tuesday night in a game I actually get to see!!!! Kentucky is obviously a pretty major game. Don't let the fact that they lost to VMI at home fool you. Even though that's horrifyingly embarrassing, this is Kentucky. Luckily they will have my excellent from-home coaching to help guide them through.

I had a fun weekend celebrating my BFF's 30th. Happy Birthday Julie!!!!!

Her dad told me this weekend that I seemed different. I pointed out that I had lost 100 pounds :) He said no, my personality seemed different. He thought that I had become more confident and extroverted without so much extra weight. I don't know if he's right, but I've been thinking about it. I did just post a pretty embarrassing picture here...

What I really, really wanted to post was the video I made of my super-awesome kids at our dance party on Friday. Those kids are hysterical. But I've tried all weekend and can't get the video to upload. I did get it uploaded to my Facebook page, though, so click here to see it.

Ok, I have been lazying away my Sunday afternoon (which is what they are good for) but since I don't have any lesson plans done for this week I guess I better get on that!

The image in my head

So this is how I motivate myself to keep going on this whole weight-loss thing: I imagine that there is a skinny girl inside me. I'm eating right to get her out. But I'm exercising so that when she gets out she's already fit and toned and ready to go. Every time I'm exercising and I'm exhausted I think "Come on, skinny girl. Get stronger now so you can bust out!" I know. Crazy talk.

Something else new and amazing today - I swear I find something exciting every day. I finally went swimming again. I ALWAYS swim over to the ladder to get out because I'm not strong enough to pull myself up out on the side. I've tried once or twice and it's embarrassing. I figured it was a combination of weak arms and a lot of weight to pull up. Well, today I decided to try it while no one was around. I like flew out of the pool! It wasn't even hard! Amazing.

One of my cousins posted her pictures from the reunion and I swear when I see myself I just look like a fat girl. Which makes me think - if I look so much better than I did before, but I still look like a fat girl......wow. Anyway, there's my Debby-Downer moment of the night.

I have got to go get some things done so I can go to SLEEP! This is the latest I've been up all week. Somehow I just have such a hard time pulling myself away from the computer...

Oh, one more thing. We have a new kid coming to school tomorrow who was at our school last year but left. This is the buzz all around school (if you've never experienced a teacher gossip mill, you've missed out on one of the great wonders of the world) b/c apparently it's a really difficult child. So one of my fifth grade STUDENTS is telling me today that he's coming back and she shakes her head, pats my arm, and says "Good luck with that."

Family Reunion!

We had a Clark (my mom's dad's family) reunion this past weekend down at Sunset Beach. We had a great time at the reunion, although it did make me miss my Grandaddy something fierce. He died 3 years ago, less than a year after our last reunion. His brother and sister look so much like him! Here are a few snapshots to give you an idea of how it went:

Unfortunately, on the ride back home, this is how it went:

Yes, that was my mom's car. But she and my grandmother (who was riding with her) are ok. God was very, very good to us that day.

I have been very blessed with a wonderful family who I love more than I can say. I know that not everyone is as fortunate as I am. You know what else I love though? Sleep. I desperately need some and I'm going there now.

Oh, Coach K....

you just make it so easy for us to hate you! Seriously, this man is an idiot. Check out this story.
Better yet, check out what one of my favorite UNC bloggers had to say about it.

In case you don't read it, good ole Coach K threw a little hissy fit because there were empty seats in Cameron. For the exhibition game last night. The exhibition game. Against Lenoir-Rhyne. Yeah, right there's a quality coach for ya.

Where is my watch?

I just spent several minutes trying to find my watch. It wasn't in the dish on my dresser where I usually put it. I was going through my whole day yesterday, just a little panicked b/c I go crazy without my watch on, "I wore it "running", but then I probably just took it off in the bathroom before I took shower. But I know I had it on at Kid's Club last night because I looked at it 74 times. So why would I have taken it off anywhere other than my dresser last night? Maybe by the computer or in the bathroom... My watch CANNOT be lost. I'll go stark wild. Why is my house such a mess? I'll never find it. What am I going to do?...." and on and on. Mind you, while this is going through my head I have not budged from my spot staring at the top of my dresser to look for it or anything. That's when I spotted it. On my wrist.

I've gone a little crazy about this whole 100-pound thing. I did post it on my Facebook status, which seems a little crazy to me in and of itself :). I'm about to the point where I stop complete strangers on the street to tell them I've lost 100 pounds. Somebody stop me please!

Yesterday I set yet another how-far-I-can-"jog"-without-stopping-to-walk record. 2 miles! I only had about 30 minutes, so I "jogged" the whole time, except for a quick warm up and cool down.

Yesterday, we had this conversation in one of my 3rd grade classes:

Quavell: "If I say a bad word, and then tell my momma I didn't say it, then put my hand on a Bible and swear to God I didn't say it, then God will stripe me."
La'Nasia: "Yeah, God will stripe you for sure"

And in my 5th grade class, the conversation went something like this (although I can't remember who said what):

"Michael Vick is in jail. He's having a good time."
"Yeah, he's having fun. He gets to go outside all the time."
"He gets to play jail-ball. They can like knock each other over and stuff."
Ms. Nash intervenes: "You guys, jail is NOT fun. I'm sure that Michael Vick is not enjoying his time there. It is not a place you want to go."
"Yes, it is. You get to go outside more than we do at school."
"I know it's fun. My uncle went there. He's a felon."

I'll say this for my job - it's never dull :)

Random deep thought I had in the car the other day:
Is having a full schedule the same thing as having a full life?

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Shhhhh.....

I'm scared to say it out loud, because I'm afraid it's not really true. I'm going to have to whisper it.

I've lost 100 pounds.

I'm excited and at the same time trying to rein it in because I still have a long ways to go. Of course, my brain just keeps telling me - "Yeah, well good for you. I can't believe you even let yourself get into a situation where you had 100 pounds to lose and you still have 60 to go. " Although there's another, albeit smaller, piece of my brain that wants to walk up to everyone I see and say "Hi. I'm Sarah. I've lost 100 pounds." Especially if it means we can have a conversation that does not revolve around elections or politics.

My scale is broken.

Yeah, let's go with that.

Now if I could only find an excuse for why my face is breaking out like a teenager the day before prom...

Going to Jesus with all of my mess!

I went to a women's seminar at my church this morning. It was great, about how God talks to us and we talk to him. Something that one of the speakers said reminded me of something that I've been hearing a lot lately - like in Steve's sermon series on Lazarus and other places I think. I don't know if people really are talking about it a lot or if I'm just hearing it b/c it's something God knows I need to work on. Anyway.

Over and over in the Bible we see people coming to Jesus - actually physically talking to him, face-to-face which we don't get to do yet - in their brokenness and failures. They don't get themselves together and then go to him. They go to him and accuse him (Martha - "If you had been here, he wouldn't have died"), doubt him (the disciples saying they won't be able to feed the 5,000), in ambivalence ("Where else do we have to go?") and in pride ("Which one of us is your favorite?"). Obviously, I'm not pulling out the real references here. I probably could, but it would take me a long time - I'm not that good at my theology :) There are many more examples, and Jesus always responds to them in kindness and love, not harshly.

This is something I seriously need to work on. I tend to think, "No, I can't talk to God about this sin in my life. It's too bad." or "I've done this too many times. I can't ask God to forgive me again. I'm too embarassed." Um, hello Sarah? He knows anyway. Our speaker today talked about going to him even to say "I don't feel like talking to you today. I'm tired of you and angry at you." There is real power in saying things out loud. In talking to God and not just to ourselves. She talked about the difference between a monologue in our head - which gets us nowhere - and an actual dialogue with God. She suggested actually praying out loud to keep from slipping into that monologue.

One of the things I loved about both of the speakers today was how consistently they wove Scripture throughout their talks, as well as quotes from other theologians. They were very, very knowledgeable and great speakers. One of the quotes that spoke to me the most was from a man named Francoise Fenelon (I hadn't heard of him either) and it was about how we should speak to God, honestly telling him everything that is in our heart. It's a long quote, so I won't post it all, but it ends like this:

"...tell him without hesitation everything that comes into your head, with the simplicity and familiarity of a little child sitting on its mother's knee."

What a great, great God we serve, who seeks us out to talk to us and listen to us. No matter how broken we are.

Happy Halloween!

I dressed up as a math teacher. Get it? Cause I'm really a reading teacher? Here are some better costumes:

ROAR!


Why do people keep picking on me? And pulling my ears?