Daddy's Girl

So this has been a busy weekend, but a very good weekend.

When I first moved out on my own to my little apartment in Springfield, my dad would come to visit occassionally. When he comes by himself he stays with me and we would have a great time. A couple of times he would bring one of my nieces or nephews, but my favorite times were when it was just Dad.

Times change, we all get busy, so that hasn't happened much in the past few years. I miss those times.

This weekend my Dad came up and we had a great time. He came in Friday. He got here around 5:45. I was still at work so he came and sat with me as I worked until 6:30. It was fun and yet kinda weird having him there in "my environment." I loved it though. We went to Hong Kong Inn for dinner and then rushed to my concert at Evangel.

The concert was AWESOME! I really enjoyed it immensely and Dad absolutely loved it also! When we got home I taught him to play Mario Kart on Wii. That was hilarious!

Saturday morning I got up and he had gone out for coffee. When he came back we just talked. Later, we went to this antique restoration place in Ozark. It was really cool. THey take old things like soda machines, gas pumps, etc and restore them and then they have antiques also. We spent about an hour in there. He would see something from his childhood and tell me a story about it. I love those times.

We went to La Fiesta for lunch and then drove around Ozark for a bit. Then it was off to rehearsal for me until the church Christmas presentation started that night. After the presentation me, Dad, Leah and a girl I was babysitting named Amaris went to Braum's for ice cream. Before we did that we went and looked at the Christmas lights. There are two houses by the church that have the huge computer generated get up with a radio station to match the lights and all. Then we went to the big display at Cornerstone Church.

Sunday morning we went to church and had the Christmas production twice. Dad went to Second Baptist Church (down the street from my church) for first service and then watched the production during the second service. After church Leah joined us for lunch at Belgium Waffle in Ozark.

It was a GREAT weekend! I really miss spending time with just my Dad. .

I miss him. :o(

I'm so tired....

I'm tired...

I'm ready for this ridiculous paper I am writing and have been writing for...all semester...to be done.... I am almost finished...it's due tomorrow... I am currently finding Missouri GLE's and matching them to the curriculum. Thankfully SPS has a manual that has it all lined up, but it's still a lot of numbers jumbled up together and I am deciphering them. Fun stuff...

I love my practicum. My practicum teacher is AMAZING and I have learned so much from her. I really would like to work with her next semester but they may not let me do that. I hope I can. I really enjoy the students in the class. I'm getting to know them individually and see their needs. I want to meet all of their educational needs so they can succeed. There's one kid who can hardly read and he doesnt have a lot of confidence in his ability to learn because of that. Tuesday he and i had to walk to the library together and he told me all about his love for history. It was really cool to hear him talk about it. I love getting to know the kids personally. I can't wait to be a teacher...

I had a crappy day at work...I had customers that were just...ugh.... I wanted to hang up on them... I know some day I'll be trading in stupid customers for stupid parents....ha...

"Mom says some days are just like that....even in Australia." Alexander -The Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

On a happy note...my tree is up...house is decorated...and I am watching Christmas movies and listening to Christmas music every opportunity. I am currently watching Elf. LOVE THIS MOVIE! Full of one liners... "Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?" hahhaaha The tree had to go up early because last weekend was my last free weekend before Christmas. Thanks to Sarah B for helping met get it up. The last three years we have had the tree in front o the window. It does not work there. It's too close to the door and takes up too much room. THis year we put it in the corner. It is working much better there and the cats are not bothering it as much. Before the cats and dog would run around and around the tree...it was not good. The only thing I dont like is that the tree appears MUCH smaller in the corner...but it's still beautiful. :o)

Well...the semester is almost over. PRAISE GOD! I am happy and sad. It's been a good semester but challenging. I am making straight A's and should end the semester making straight A's. I am making better grades working two jobs full time while in school than I did when I didnt work at all and just went to school. I think that's typical of non-tradional older students. I have a lot more at stake now than I did before.

I am booked through Christmas...I have no weekends free and very few weeknights before Christmas. When I look at my calendar I feel like Christmas is next week, but it's really Thanksgiving. Crazy how time flies when you are this insanely busy!

Well...back to my paper...enough useless bloggging!

Peanut Butter

I was looking through some old Myspace blogs I have written. This one is from April 2007.

Ode to a dear friend...
Category: Food and Restaurants
My life was changed in an instant.
It was sudden, unexpected, and yes... even a bit devastating.
I will never forget that fateful morning when I heard the news on the radio...
The February 14th morning that changed my life...
forever...
Yes friends, it was the day that the peanut butter died. *sigh* Yes, died. Recalled... due to salmonella.
It's hard to recover from such a devastating blow. Peanut butter is a staple in my life. Nothing makes a better snack than a spoonful of my favorite Great Value creamy peanut butter with a drizzle of Honey Heaven honey.
Contrary to popular belief, not all peanut butter is created equal. In my opinion, the best peanut butter is Great Value. I don't buy it because its inexpensive, I buy it because its the best....or...it WAS the best. Nothing else is nearly as good as GV. Trust me, I have tried many many brands, and nothing compares to GV.
As soon as I heard the news that dreaded morning, I ran (okay hobbled b/c I still wasnt walking) down the stairs and into the kitchen to see if my wonderful beloved jar of GV peanut butter had the horrible "2111" on the cap.
I shuddered as I gazed at that 2111, staring me in the face as if to say "HA HA HA" you can't eat me! We had two jars that we had to throw away. Gone forever. Of course the news pointed out that Missouri was one of the states that there had been several outbreaks, so I had to throw it away.
Sure, no big deal right? I thought it was nothing major really, I could just run to Wal-Mart and buy a new jar with a different number on the top. If I had known then what I know now, I would have risked it and finished that new jar.
The shelves at WalMart and Price Cutter had been cleaned out. The only peanut butter left was some all natural junk, Nutella and large jars of JIF. I was dumbfounded as I searched and searched for my beloved GV peanut butter, but it was not there. It was never to be seen again. I really thought that it would be no big deal. All they have to do is whip out a new batch of the good stuff at a different ConAgra plant right?
Wrong... very very wrong. Almost 2 months later, you still cannot buy GV peanut butter.
I had to resort to JIF. *Shudder*. It's just not the same. Every time I see that label staring me in the eyes, I shudder, and remember the good old days when I had my Great Value peanut butter. I have a conspiracy theory that JIF planted the salmonella in that ConAgra plant so that they could have the edge on the peanut butter market. All that you can find now is JIF and other nasty yucky brands.
Oh to taste that semi-sweet ultra smoothy creamy delectable taste in my mouth again... *sigh*
Tis nothing but a distant memory now.
Rest in peace dear Great Value peanut butter. Someday I hope we shall meet again.

Running from the unavoidable...

A week from tomorrow I will be 29. TWENTY NINE!!!!!!!!!!! That is the age that women say the are for the rest of their lives but really aren't. That is the age I really will be! 29 sounds so scary! It's my LAST YEAR in my 20's. I remember when I migrated from the mid-2o's to the late 20's and it was pretty traumatic.. but now I am the latest 20 you can be! Hello???? Where did the last nine years go?
It just seems like there should be more I should have accomplished by now? I mean, I was going to go to CBC, graduate, get married, go into ministry and have at least 2 kids by now! WOW God has a sense of humor! haha.
All that said, I am very thankful for my life and even though it hasnt turned out quite how I wanted it, I am in God's will and there is NO better place! So I'll try to be positive... bring it on 29...

So my Uncle Gary has cancer. Apparently it's not good. It could be months or years...who knows. He's a pretty hard guy and has never really wanted anythign to do with God. So we've been bombarding Heaven with prayers for his salvation. He's 62 years old and the only reason he ever steps foot in a church is to go to weddings or funerals. He's a good man but just kinda hard. But he just doesnt know Jesus. He does not express emotions or feelings very well.
Thursday he called my mom and said he wanted to go to Judgement House. It's a presentation my parents church puts on every year around Halloween. He brought it up on his own with no prompting from anyone. He needed a wheelchair becuase he cannot walk. The church made it happen.
During the salvation part of the program, no response. We continued praying.
Yesterday afternoon my mom called me from her cell phone. My mom NEVER uses her cell phone (I didnt even know she still had one!) so my immediate thought is that something is wrong. She told me that Uncle Gary had called Dad Sunday morning and asked him to come over. Around 7 am Dad shows up and as soon as he walks in the door Gary starts reading the sinners prayer off of a tract he got at the church and crying. Of course as mom is telling me I am crying as well. Dad was able to spend a couple of hours with him afterwards. God is good! This is someone, honestly, I thought would NEVER open his heart to the Lord. I'm sure that cancer and knowing his life is possibly ending prompted it partly; however, I believe the power of God is the ulitmate prompting. I know that if he is not with us much longer, that he will be with God and I will join him someday. God is good and He is the same yesterday, today and forever!!!

This weekend I went to the football game at Evangel. I LOATHE football! What I loathe even more is pep band at football games. I hate sitting out in the hot sun (or the cold nights) in large crowds. I have a phobia of large loud crowds. As much as I love baseball and going to games, it bothers me even there. The last STL game I went to I almsot got sick because there were so many people there. I didnt mind pep band in high school because all of my friends were there and it was fun. Now its just a chore and there are much more pressing things I would rather be doing on a Saturday. I know people in the band and all, but no one I feel real comfortable sitting and chatting with. And it goes back to the whole different stages of life thing too. These kids are like 18 and 19... I am 28 (for 8 more days!)... I'm not any better or worse than them...but I've already been where they are and I'm thinking about different things than they are. So anyway, I got sunburnt at the game. I have fair skin, I ignored the prompting of Dr K to wear sun screen. What's funny is that I only got partially burnt. The left side of my face/neck are burnt, but not hte right side. Now that's attractive!

Yesterday Deborah and I (my roommate) went down to Branson to The Landing. I was on a shoe hunt and have yet to find the ones I'm looking for in my size at a decent price. UGH...
Anyway, we ate a Shorty Smalls *YUMMY* and window shopped. It was a fun day.

Because of all of my outdoor adventures, I am now home in bed today sick with sinus infection. I have bad allergy issues and they always flair up around my birthday. So I am home in bed today watching Christmas movies...YES....Christmas movies! :o)

I'm curled up in my jammies in a warm blanket watching Christmas movies...sneezing and blowing my nose every couple of minutes.

Well, that's it for now... Happy Monday!

New glasses need a new hair cut...

I got my hair cut....when I say cut....I mean C-U-T.

I think they got 5-6 inches...It is SHORT. I have had it this short in the past but that was about 40 lbs ago....so I THINK I like it...but it's going to take some time. It will be MUCH easier to fix that's for sure! Thanks to Leah for coming with me to be my moral support! ha The picture I had to show the lady was a little bit longer but I think in a week or so it will be better. We'll see.

This picture was taken from my cell phone so it's NOT a good picture...but here goes:

I got new glasses today and I'm having a very difficult time adjusting to them. I was going to take a picture and include it, but I'm having a horrible hair day. ha. They are giving me a horrendous headache, but hopefully the Diet Coke will ease that up. haha, yes I am an addict.

Lots of stuff going on at work right now. Lots of change. I'm anticipating to see how it will all play out. Interesting staff meeting today. I think, in the end, it will be good. I dont do change well but I'm going to try my hardest to go into this with a positive attitude and trust leadership. God has them there for a reason.

And then I get excited b/c in a year and a half, I will be out of here! (Lord willing!!!)

If you want to see something funny, here's a You Tube video to check out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7myO3imGy0

Get your Depends out b/c it is F-U-N-N-Y!!! (In a sad sort of way!). I know a guy that is VERY MUCH like the guy in the middle *cough Tim Baker*

Breaks over...back to work...

A day in the life...

I have the most unaffectionate cat unless I am trying to type. He will come up and nuzzle and purr and sit right on my lap...ONLY when I am trying to type. Thanks Braxton...

The other day a lady at work came over to me and said "Wow Marti, you just have not been yourself lately. You seem really stressed and tired."

HAHAHAHHAHA

Really? YOu dont say! ME? STRESSED? I have NO clue what you are talking about??? Let's just put aside the fact that I didnt have a summer "break" to speak of...I worked 40 hours a week and then on average babysat 15-20 hours a week. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my life...but I am REALLY tired! Last night I slept 10 hours, and by noon today I was worthless. Why am I so tired? Let me give you an example. We'll use Tuesday, b/c Tuesday is my craziest day:
6:15- Get up and dressed

7:20- Drive to work

8:00- Work

10:30- Clock Out, change clothes

10:40- Leave for school

11:00- Band

12:30- Class

1:50- Class dismissed

2:10- Get to work, change clothes

2:12- Clock in

4:18- Clock out

4:20- Change clothes, book it to class

4:30- Class starts

6:50- Class over

7:00- Oh yeah, I haven't eaten ALL DAY, stop at McDonalds on way home

7:30- Get home, do laundry, dishes, clean the litter box, take out the trash, eat (if I dont grab something on the way), practice piano (or baritone, whatever I am in the mood for), whatever else needs to be done around the house

10:00- START homework

Midnight- Sleep

6:15 AM- Start all over *sigh*

And I am tired because????

Beginning next week I am taking Tuesdays off from work entirely. It's amazing to me that I am working 26 hours a week and I am this tired and stressed. The last two semesters I took the same amount of classes and worked 36-38 hours a week and still had time for other things. I had several breaks in between classes then where I could run to Wal-Mart, go to the library, do stuff that needed to be done on campus, etc. This semester I do not have that, so it's running NON STOP and it just never ends. I get home and Im just exhausted.

So at this time...I am very ready for school to be over...already. The highlight of my week is band. That one class twice a week keeps me going. I think that makes me an official band nerd.

All of this stress and school and I STILL WONT HAVE MY MASTERS DEGREE WHEN I AM DONE!!!!!!

*sigh*

Home buying bug...

So a few months ago I decided I wanted to look into buying a home. Since I am in school and living off of school loans I can't get approved for enough to buy anything to speak of. I'm fine with renting, it's not a huge deal...but....
There are days when I really wish I could buy a house! I'm wathing that show on HGTV...its like First Time Home Buyers...or something like that... and I REALLY want to buy a house! But I dont want to buy one until I can buy one that I like and can afford on my own (which is the biggest kicker). So here's what I want:

A three bedroom, two bath house with dishwasher, fenced in back yard (preferably privacy fence) in a decent neighborhood...preferably hard wood floors, 1-2 car garage, a storage shed in the back, and trees. I'm not asking much...

I already know what I would do with my rooms. Of course I would have my room. It would be a bedroom only. The second room would be my office where I would have my desk and bookshelves and probably store my music stuff and the last room would be a guest room. I would have my twin size bed, my small bookshelf with kids books and probably some of my youthful items. Eventually it would be a room for the little boy I am going to adopt from Guatamala. :o)

So it sounds all great, but in reality...well...it's NOT a reality!

Perhaps I'll just have to keep living vicariously through Sims2! ha!

Oh well, it's not a big deal. My townhouse is nice. I like it and I have good neighbors. I love that I can call my landlord if I have problems with the house, I love having yardwork taken care of and not dealing with property taxes, etc.

Anyway, so that's another random pointless blog for me as I avoid writing a paper.

*Saturday*
My favorite day of the week.

Last night we had Band Advance...a retreat of sorts to get into the school year. It's a long night of practicing and getting to know our fellow band-mates. I love the playing, I hate the socializing. I feel so socially awkward. It's strange how I am an incredibly social person, but when I am at school or in a new situation I feel so out of place! Today wasnt as bad. I ended up talking with a couple of girls and getting to know them a bit. Everyone I think knows me and I know them, but I just feel like I don't quite belong. I've already "been there done that" and don't really feel I have much in common with them. Most of these "kids" are 8-10 years younger than I am. What's even more ironic about my social awkwardness with this younger generation...my best friend is 7 years younger than me... But it's different... Some guy found out I was 28 last night and he was like...woah... that's crazy! Anyway, I survived the day and maybe came out with a couple of "friends" from the deal.

I am currently sitting in a friends apartment watching her cable. She is out of town and I am cat sitting. She lives a couple of buildings down from me and we grew up together in Sikeston. Her cat is SOOO sweet! She's just super lovey and just sits on my lap and purrs. It's nice just sitting here watching her cable since I dont have that. :o)

School is getting better. I made it through the first full week. I got a copule of assignments done already and I am going to write a journal review critique tonight. We had to do some sort of health subject in elementary schools so I am doing one on kids with type 1 diabetes in the elementary school. The article is very fascinating. He told us to use a subject that meant something to us and this one definitely does.

I have a foundations of art and music class as well. We started out the music section. I understand the point of it and I think it will be okay in the end; but there is a LOT of busy work! We had to look up a bunch of vocabulary words and do an elementary workbook. I finished both of them up for the entire semester already because it was so easy. We also have to play the recorder. I STILL remember how to play it from 5th grade. We have to practice 20 minutes a week, but if you play piano, you can count that. Good thing... the cats do not like it when I play it at all!

Well, that's about it. Im tired and have a huge allergy/sinus headache. I'm thinking it's time to go home and take a nap! :o)

I survived...

I did it. I survived day one. I am a little overwhelmed by the prospect of doing a REAL practicum now. I did a general one last year. I basically sat in the back of the classroom, made copies for the teacher or helped a severe ADHD keep on task. It was okay, but I don’t think the teacher really wanted me there so it was awkward. This semester I am doing a Math Practicum. It is scary! I know that once I am in front of a class and have my lesson plans prepared, I will be fine…but the thought of doing it right now TERRIFIES me!

So, I am officially getting a little excited about the semester. Tomorrow is band and Methods of Teaching Elementary Physical Education. Woohoo! (not!). Band, of course, I am excited for. I never thought I would see the day where my Math class would be the highlight of my week!

This time next year I will probably be preparing to student teach. AKKKKK!

My professor (Dr. Huechteman) for the Math class was out today. She had back surgery this summer that didn’t go well so she couldn’t make it today. Dr. Hardy (the departmental chair) was in there instead. She’s hilarious and an amazing mentor so it was nice to have her again, even if for only one class; but I am ready for Dr. Huechteman to be back in class and feeling better. They are both great professors and mentors.

I am planning a trip to Nashville for Spring break (hopefully). If all works out I will be going to visit my friend Rebekah and then heading south of Nashville to Cleveland TN to visit my best friend from high school, April. I haven’t seen April in 8 years. It will be so good to see her. This summer my entire family is planning a trip to Hershey PA. I am super excited about that as well because another one of my good friends just moved to that area. She is expecting her first baby in September so if I go to Hershey I will be able to visit with her also! My family has not taken a vacation all together in my memory. We still have a lot of details to work out, but I am excited! I think some of us may fly and some may drive. I am opting for flying. I don’t do long car trips with people I love more than life, but might possibly kill if riding in a car for 13 hours. I say that because I know they feel the same way!

And my other non-interesting to others but extremely exciting to me news… I got a new planner! I AM SO HAPPY! Thank you Sarah & Charlie Hungerford for hooking me up with it! I LOVE new planners! I know…I am the nerd to top all nerds…but I LOVE PLANNERS!

Off to work…

Procrastination...

...Is an art form I have mastered.

Tomorrow I start school....my third semester at Evangel University.
Why do I dread it so much? This time last year I was so incredibly excited. Even my second semester I was excited...but my third semester... not feeling the excitement. I think it is due to the burn out I experienced the last two semesters. I was SOOOO tired at the end of the second semester. Then I had a great, but incredibly busy, summer with no rest...and now I am about to start the madness all over again.

I am so incredibly tired. I dont know if I have it in me to do this again. Am I crazy? I know that once I begin again I will be fine...

But right now I am even procrastinating sleeping because I know when I wake up, I have to go to school.

I have NEVER not wanted to go to school this badly. But I hate what I do now. I don't *hate* my job, but I cannot stay there forever or I will hate it... the past few weeks have been so bad I'm practically counting down the days until I start teaching. I worked ten solid hours today and when I left at 6:30 I still had paperwork to catch up on. I'll just stop because if I keep going on about that...it would not be pretty. I am really glad I am going part time this week because I can't handle it much longer.

So here I am blogging pointlessly so that I do not have to go to sleep. Because sleep brings morning and morning brings Methods of Teaching Elementary Mathematics.

But if I dont sleep soon, I will be grouchier in the morning than I am now...b/c after Methods of Teaching Elementary Mathematics, I have to work 8 hours and then I have VBS.

If I can just get through tomorrow, the first day, I can make it another three semesters!

Positive attitude Marti, positive attitude!

Euphonium Euphoria

Last night I was bored. I practiced euphonium for about an hour. I've been "meaning" to practice all summer, but the summer flew by so quickly. Working 4o hours a week at GPH and about 15-20 a week babysitting just limited my practice time. After about 20 minutes my lips were killing me!

I had such good intentions at the end of the school year! I was going to complete Morceau's Symphonique, The Flower Duet and get at least halfway through Rocheau. Well, I am ALMOST done with the second and third movement of Morceau but haven't even touched the first section. Every time I see those 6 flats staring at me I just move on to something else!

I ordered The Flower Duet back in May. It's a beautiful song performed and arranged by Adam Frey. I have it downloaded from Itunes and he plays with a trombone. I was so excited to get it. I have run through it many times. I was actually disapointed at how easy it was. I can't wait until school starts and I can find a trombone to play it with me. Even though it's simple to play, it has a lot of things that will need worked on to make it beautiful. A lot of time the beauty of the music isn't in how hard it is to play but rather all of the other technical aspects of it. It is a BEAUTIFUL song!

Yeah, and Rocheau (which is a warm up book)... well... I didnt get far. Actually, I have played one NEW piece out of it. I was also going to master all of the scales in bass clef...but as you can guess, that didnt happen. I added one and that was it.

I feel like I am still learning so much because I didnt play for so long. After I graduated from high school in 1998 with intentions of being a music major (which didn't happen) I hadn't picked up a horn. When I started at Evangel last year I thought I would give it a try. After all at one point about ten years ago I was going to major in Euphonium Performance. But that didnt happen. :o( Dr. Kolstad at Evangel gave me a chance and I jumped right back in. My first semester was tough and there were many days when I just wanted to give up, but I kept plugging along. My second semester I decided it was time for private lessons. Dr. K told me in my first lesson that I was learning the bass clef. I chuckled. YEAH RIGHT! I had played flute originally but in 8th grade my band teacher asked me if I would like to play the euph. I loved the flute and I was good at it, but I really LOVED the euph! The one hinderance I have had since day one...is the stupid bass clef. I never really tried and Mr. Cowan in high school never made me, so I just stayed in my comfort zone playing treble clef. Playing both clefs opens a whole new world of opportunities in music selection.

Dr K said it would take all semester to get a grasp of it and that it would be tedious but to keep plugging away at it. Three weeks later, I was playing bass clef regularly. Playing piano and being able to read bass clef was a huge asset to that success. I still struggle and the real test will be when I start next week in band again and they hand me all bass clef music, but I am excited about the challenge. I just wish I had more time this summer to prepare for that.

So after an hour of practice last night, I'm going to squeeze in another hour today and hopefully my lips won't fall off after 20 minutes! ha

Well that's my music blog today.