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So here it is, the day before Thanksgiving. I have had the day off and have been so productive. This morning I had a long overdue eye dr. appointment. Let's get one thing straight. I really HATE going to any type of doctor. However, these past few months I decided that it was time I went and got caught up on all of my appointments. So, this morning was the last of the doctors visit at least for this year (hopefully...). My appointment was at 9 so I got there about 8:50. I signed in and sat down with a lobby full of people. I figured it might be busy with everyone trying to get in before the holiday and with so many people taking today off of work. Around 9:30, I noticed the woman beside me getting really irritated. I asked her what time her appointment was scheduled for and she replied "8:30 and I don't have time to sit in this waiting room all day!!" Wow...all I asked for was the time. She was really upset and to be fair, she did mention that she had to go back to work after her appointment. I could tell that she really didn't want to make small talk with me so I got back to reading my magazine. I felt sorry for the nurse that finally called her back.I'm not sure why, but for some reason after my (very) small chat with this woman, I started to think about all the reasons for me to NOT get upset for having to wait an hour before going back to be seen. Think about all of the people out there who would love to sit in a waiting room for hours just to be seen by a doctor. I can't even fathom not being able to just wake up and call the dr if I need to. So, I waited my 45 minutes to get in and didn't complain. Hey...could have been worse!This Thanksgiving will be different for me because it is the first Thanksgiving that Darin and I will be sharing as a married couple and I must admit that the holiday has brought on more stress than I thought it would. With my family being in GA and his family here, we've had to compromise where we would be this year. Last year Darin and I spent the holiday in GA with my family so this year we're spending it here. The stress of the holiday has been brought on by my own selfishness. I still want to wake up every Thanksgiving in my old room at my parents house. There's something about waking up in that room and going downstairs to enjoy a cup of coffee and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade with my mom. I will miss that tradition this year, but I'm hoping it resumes next year. Even though I won't be with my family in GA this year, I will be with my NEW family. How exciting! We are very fortunate to live close to all of Darin's family and will enjoy spending the day with them. All is not lost in my quest to get to GA. I'm going down on Friday to spend some time with my family and to celebrate Jillian's 4th birthday. How fun!! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. What a special time of year to reflect on everything that we've been given. I am so thankful for so many things...my family, friends, my job and health just to name a few. Above all, I am so thankful for my salvation and for God's grace. How thankful I am to be His child.
Ok, my friend Heather has tagged me and I'm supposed to give 7 random facts about me. Actually, I can't really remember if they're supposed to be random, but if you know me at all, you know that pretty much everything about me is random so here it goes.
1. My favorite place to be in Wal-Mart is in the school supply/pen aisle. I absolutely LOVE getting new pens and markers. I don't know if it's the teacher in me or not, but this is not a recent discovery. I can remember wasting many hours at the good old Wal-Mart in Dahlonega with MC looking at different things on that aisle. There is nothing better than the start of a new semester with "fresh" supplies. It's sick...I know.
2. I am double jointed in one thumb. Strange, huh? I know I'm getting old because sometimes that one thumb will ache really bad...usually when it's about to rain or something.
3. I HATE cats. Seriously...I despise them. I think they are from the devil. The way they look at you and hiss...no thank you!! The only good cat is a dead cat. (That last sentence was a joke people, please don't send me hate mail.)
4. I will not eat the ends of hot dogs. Here's the really strange part. I actually love eating hot dogs. It's just that the ends of them remind me of cat butts (see #3). So, whenever I'm eating a hot dog, I just cut off both ends and then finish the hot dog. This also applies to the ends of pickles, but it's not because they remind me of cat butts, but because they're so hard and gross. YUCK!
5. I absolutely despise people touching my bones. My elbow is the the worst. My husband knows this and will just walk up behind me and put his hand on my elbow. I hate it. I don't know why...and I know it's strange, but it's just a fact.
6. I enjoy playing sports. I played softball and ran track throughout my high school years. However, secretly, I would have loved to have been a cheerleader. Isn't that weird? It's not so much that I wanted to cheer, I wanted to be able to run and do back flips and stuff. So, maybe I should have said I wanted to by a gymnast or something. Either way, you get the point.
7. I eat one thing at a time and I try really hard not to let my food touch. Seriously people, why should my mashed potatoes have green bean juice in them? GROSS!! My mom threatened to get me some of those old school lunch trays as a wedding present. That way, all of my food would have their own spot. Thanks, mom. I also start with one food, eat all of it, and then move on to the next. I try to save the thing that's my favorite for last.
Well, there are seven strange things about me. Now I'm supposed to name 7 people to continue this on. I don't even think 7 people read this blog, so I issuing the challenge to everyone!! If I can do it, you can do it...yes, even you Alison! :)
This morning, Darin and I were trying to hurry and get everyone out the door at 6:30 so that we could go vote before going to work. When I went in to get the kids up, Austin was already awake and dressed. Usually it's a task to get him up. He loves his sleep, but I think the time change is still tricking him. He got in bed around 8:00 last night just because it was so dark. Hey...works for me!! Anyway, he's sitting on the couch watching TV while Darin and I are getting lunches made. He starts telling us that they had a mock election at his school yesterday and they were going to find out today who won. I asked him if he voted (we won't even go to who he voted for!!) and he said yes but that it didn't matter anyway. I asked him why he felt that way and was telling him (i'm sure i was using my "teacher voice" at this point...) that every vote mattered and that it didn't matter who he voted for as long as he voted. It was at this point that he looked at me and said...
"Kate, we're not the one who chooses the President. The electoral college does."
When did he get this smart? Clearly, I'm NOT smarter than a fifth grader...
Well, only four more days of school this week and then two weeks off! I'm so ready for this much needed break. I informed all of my students today that if we could all just survive until Friday afternoon without killing each other, then I would consider this 9 weeks a success. I am enjoying my students this year, but after spending at least 8 hours with them daily, I am also looking forward to spending some time away from them as well.
For some reason I lost my mind at the beginning of last school year and decided that it would be "fun" to be the SGA advisor this year. Remind me never to volunteer for things ever again. This is a much bigger task then I ever thought possible. I was thinking one or two meetings a month. No big deal. Let me just tell you...I was completely wrong.
The middle Tennessee area has a can food drive competition each year with all of the local high schools. Our school has won for the last 10 years straight. Nothing to live up to or anything. Nope...no pressure at all. Our goal this year is 60,000 cans. What?! These kids are serious about collecting them, so at least that's good.
We won our football game on Friday night against our county rivals Mt. Juliet. It was a great game...I wish I could say the same about afterwords. Gavin was running around and playing and having a good time when he tripped over his own feet and fell....hard!! I heard his head hit the pavement and went running over just in time for Darin to get there first. Darin picked him up and was hugging him. He moved his hand back from behind his head and there was blood covering his hand (i know...gross. I'm sorry...). Let me just tell you one thing. I do not do blood. The kids have learned this lesson well as Austin walked into the house the other day and announced, "Dad, I fell off my bike and cut my leg. You need to come look at it because you know Kate freaks out about this stuff." Yes, it's pathetic. I hate the site of blood. People say that when it's your own kids you don't think about it, but I seriously think I will. Anyway...back to Gavin. He is crying more because he dropped his candy than because of his head. At this point I'm thinking..."great...we're off to the emergency room and I'm going to have to go by myself because Darin drove the bus here with the football players." I've got all three kids plus my father-in-law in my car with me. What am I going to do? I ran and got some napkins and ice and by the time I got back there was quite a crowd gathered. Darin got the team trainer to come and look and do you know that there was barely a scratch!! I'm serious. No trip to the ER. Woo hoo!! After Darin took him to the bathroom to clean him up, he came back out and didn't say another word about his head. He had a pretty big knot all weekend, but didn't complain about anything. Disaster avoided!!
This weekend we're headed down to GA for a few days. I can't wait to see my family. I miss them all so much!! We're so excited to be able to catch up for a few days. I will post more when we get back!
Ok. I am really terrible at blogging...and I don't even have a good excuse for it. I check other people's blogs daily. I could blame it on the fact that my friend Heather is so stinkin (and yes, that is a word in Tennessee!!) good at this that I feel very intimidated at posting anything. Seriously, she's good.
However, I've decided that enough is enough. I wanted to update everyone on what is going on up here in Nashville.
Let's see. School is going well. We are 8 weeks into the first semester. Our school district is pretty cool in that every nine weeks we get two weeks off. So October 6-17 we will be relaxing. We have lots of things planned though, including a trip home to Georgia!! I am so excited. It seems like it's been forever since I've been home last and it will be great to see everyone, even if it is for a short while.
Darin coaches football, so our Friday nights are spent at different football fields. I love it. They take high school football very seriously up here. Complete with tailgates for every home game and everything. Unfortunately we lost the first three games by a combined 8 points. However, last week we turned our streak around and won our homecoming game.
Erin and Austin are doing so good in school. Both had (almost) all A's on their progress reports. Tennessee is different in that an A is valued at a 93-100 not 90 - 100. A 90 is considered a B. I would have had a terrible GPA if I had grown up here in Tennessee!! Erin loves high school and Austin is having lots of fun in 4th grade. He is playing on his own football team and looks so cute...I mean tough...in his football uniform. Gavin is still Gavin. He is so cute and into everything. All three are excited about the trip to Georgia in two weeks. It will be the first time I've traveled with the three by myself. Unfortunately Darin will have football practice and will be unable to come with us. I'm sure he's sad about having the house to himself for a few days.
Well, that's about it for us. I will post pics from GA when we get back!!
This is Gavin, Darin's youngest son.
Darin and me after the wedding.
My sisters and me. How many pictures like this do we have?!?!
I learned a long time ago not to put limits on God. One would think that I would not have to constantly be reminded of just how awesome our God is, but I do. Let me explain. A few years ago when I moved to Nashville, I was talking with a friend of mine describing the "perfect" guy that I would fall in love with. He WAS NOT going to be a teacher because I needed someone who was going to make a little more money than teachers do, he would have to be tall because I could NEVER date someone SHORTER than me. I didn't think I could ever date someone who had been MARRIED BEFORE much less already HAVE CHILDREN. When I got finished giving God my list, he showed me His plan....
Darin and I met in August, 2004 on our first day of school. He had been teaching for a few years and it was my first year at Lebanon High School. A mutual friend introduced us and we became instant friends. I knew that there was no way things would become anything more than just friends because 1) he was shorter than me and 2) he had been married and had 3 children. Isn't God funny? Four years later, we are happily married. Darin has become my best friend and his children are beautiful and wonderful. Sometimes I look at my life and think how crazy it is at how everything has worked out. I can't imagine my life without him and his children. I have gone from being single to a family of 5. Life is crazy at the Plumlee house, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
I want to use this blog to keep everyone posted on what is going on in our lives. And believe me...it's a lot!! Darin and I are so excited to see what God has in store for us in our journey together. It's going to be a roller coaster ride...so hold on!!
What the heck? I figured I would try out this blog thing. I mean "everyone else is doing it"....right?
I can not promise that I will be a terrific writer. After all, my degree is in math. However, I figured this is a good way to keep up with family and friends. I hope you enjoy it....
