Why is it that whenever I want to post, Blogger is acting decidedly childish? (No, I don't WANT to post your page! ::stamps foot and begins to cry:: ) posted by Steph at 9:38 PM[edit]
The Renaissance Festival was great!! And though everyone was well burned by the bright sun, we all had a good time. My daughter brought her two best friends, and I had enough costumes for everyone, even the boys. They went off (with my cel for safety) to do their own things, and the four of us (me, John and the boys) went off to do ours. We met about every hour and a half to watch the jousting story unfold, which was a lot of fun, and funnier than last year, even if the storyline wasn't as good.
Getting there extra early is the way to go, though. The place doesn't open up until 10:30, and John (man that he is and so anal about time as he is) miscalculated how long it would take us to get there, so we arrived about 9:30. The ticket window opened up about 9:55, and then we waited for the gate to open. We didn't expect the show to begin at 10:15, but I'm glad we saw it...it was the beginning of the storyline that ran the rest of the day. I loved it!
And so, we have King Henry ("The eighth of that name") and Queen Anne Boleyn, and their court and retinue. King Henry actually at one point asked me to walk with him (I was dressed as a vaguely French noblewoman) and we spoke of such things as improving the lines of communication between the French and the English, of course with my bodyguard, Sir John, son of William, remaining close to ensure my safety, the French of course never trusting mere English security. And dear Queen Anne just fuming and turning her nose up at me. It was rich, and I had a ball.
Of course, having two boys underfoot while all this was going on was a little difficult. Next year John and I are going to take a day where we go just by ourselves, and then another day when we take all the kids. I think we will have a lot more fun.
In other news, I'm really enjoying my summer break. What an amazing thing to sleep until I wake (or at least until the boys wake me.) No restraints, no constraints, just me and the kids and entire days of being lazy. I know that will wear off quickly but at the moment I'm really enjoying it. There are still things to do, and places to go, but I can take things at my own pace, or decide not to do them at all if I please.
I have a picture beside my computer now. It's a picture of me, and seven of my "babies", on the outside of the frame is written some sentiments about teachers. I like looking at that picture. Not because it's of me...but because my babies are there. On the flip side of the sentiment I expressed in the previous paragraph, I really do miss them, and it's been less than a week.
Well, that was odd. No clue why my page suddenly wasn't there, then suddenly was again. Maybe blogger has a new rule that you have to post something every five days or so. Makes sense.
Only three more days until school is out. Mixed feelings on that. On the one hand I'll have a nice long break..but on the other hand I won't see my babies for two months. Sure, it'll go really fast but they won't be babies anymore by the time I see them next. (I have to say that most of them really aren't babies even now, but range in age from just under two to three and a half.)
The summer is filled with stuff though, so it should go really fast. I get two weeks off, then there's VBS to work in, and after that, my neice is coming to stay with us for a while. After that is our yearly trip to Louisiana for the family reunion; then Eva goes to camp for a week. Immediately after that, I leave for Texas to visit an old high school friend, and when I return from that, I'll have a week break before I go to Florida with the people I work with for Seminar for four days. When we get back it will be time for school to start again the next week.
I'm not going to have time to miss my babies....I'll barely have time to gather myself. posted by Steph at 1:27 PM[edit]
5.15.2002
Can't I ever win?
So yell at me if you want. Maybe I'm jsut being selfish..I want it all and I don't want to have to fight. Or maybe I'm scared what might happen. You know I hate confrontation and though I know I've been told many, many times that confrontation is not a bad thing, it still scares the beejeebers out of me.
On the one hand, I am an adult and I should be able to do what I want. So going to a movie with a guy that I consider to be my best friend could be construed wrongly. It's not a date; it's more like I was going out with my little brother. Maybe it is inappropriate, but there are times when friends like to hang out together and there isn't anything wrong with it. But John also feels the sting of what happened in Virginia, innocent as it actually was.
I should remind my husband that my best friend is a homosexual, but I'm just as scared of what that might accomplish in the mind of a man who's studying to become a Baptist preacher. Sure, it might make him realize that there's no risk here in the friendship, but I don't want my best friend to have religion shoved down his throat from a man he doesn't even care for. And *I'm* certainly not going to shove it down his throat. I know him too well to do that. We've had that conversation, and I respect him and his beliefs just as he respects me and mine.
So I risk doing one thing and having one person upset with me, or not doing that thing and having the other upset with me. A rock and a hard place.
Why does it have to be so complicated??? Why can't we all just get along? (And I say that quite pointedly though very uselessly, since the person I should be asking doesn't even read my blog.)
So yell and scream at me. Might as well, I can't feel any worse about it now. posted by Steph at 2:13 PM[edit]
'Kenzie, Alex, Mallory,
Conner, Megan, Luke,
The names of children, one by one,
That hold a piece of me.
My heart is full of memories,
Of laughter, tears and fun,
Of triumphs met, of trials won,
Of childish love and care.
On one hand, the year's been long,
The children grew so much.
But then again, this year's just flown,
My heart aches to let them go.
My precious babies, one and all,
Not babies any more,
Children now, they're growing up,
My heart will ache, but smile.
I love you, my darlings.
---Mrs. Stephanie, 13 May 2002 posted by Steph at 8:42 PM[edit]
5.12.2002
I hope everyone has a lovely national park or something equivalent that they get to visit from time to time. There's just something about spending time in nature that revives a person.
Around here, there are several, but the most notable is Stone Mountain. Atlanta's a pretty hilly place, though to find (most) real mountains you have to go another hour or so north of here. But Stone Mountain is quite notable. It's a huge granite...mound, for lack of a better world, formed from a ball of magma some three hundred gazillion years ago. The soil washed away and left us with the top part of the ball sticking out of the ground.
The Daughters of the Confederacy saw the big rock and decided they wanted to have it carved into the god-like likeness of General Robert E. Lee, but that would have been a REALLY big statue, so they settled for a high-relief carving on one side. So now there's a pretty picture of Lee, Jackson and some other dude (can't think of whom right off the top of my head) sitting astride their horses on the side of the mountain, away from the interstate so they can be sure you have to pay to see it.
But it is worth going into the park. There are lots of cool things to do. They're just about to open a Main Street sort of attraction called Crossroads, which is supposed to represent a town in 1870's, with costumes and all. (But not the prices, natch.) They've built a huge interactive game called The Great Barn (watch out for flying fruit!) which is fun for the kids. All that in addition to the Skylift, the train, the riverboats, picnic areas, and the walk up the mountain to name a few things you can do there. It's a good day out in the open air, and if you have a friend or family with you, some good company and good exercise.
We didn't go in the Barn this time, because John got a peach in the eye last time; he refuses to ever go back, now. We did go through the Crossroads, though, and it looks pretty good. We took the train over to the far side of the mountain, then walked up the mountain itself. Pretty easy going for most of the way, until you get nearly to the top and it gets really steep. Don't know if I want to do that again. We took the skylift down, but it was a bit crowded..didn't get to be close to a window, which spoils it a bit for me. Ah, well. At the bottom, we had the required (by the kids) serving of Dippin' Dots, which to those not in the know, is ice cream frozen into tiny pellets. Pretty good on a hot day.
The kids love going, but we don't go nearly enough by their account. I'm hoping my bestest friend will go with us some over the summer. (Pleeease?) It will make the trip just that much more enjoyable for me, and for the kids who absolutely adore him like an older brother. (And climb on him like one, too.)
In other news....ONLY TWO WEEKS OF SCHOOL LEFT!! HOORAY!! posted by Steph at 10:30 PM[edit]
5.10.2002
Ugh. Two weeks. That's not right, and I apologize to those of you that actually take time out to read my log. I shouldn't be this way.
But then, it's been a busy two weeks.
Mostly lots of little stuff, like Eva's dental and orthodontic appointments, meetings with teachers, and the everyday life that would be pretty boring to most of you. The life of a preschool teacher and housewife isn't all that exciting, I have to admit. (You ought to see my written journal. I write a lot more here than I write in it.)
But the biggest thing happened last weekend. My husband was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. (Try typing that how it sounds. Why they put two impossible terms next to each other is beyond me.) The day before, the day of, and two days after was a form of torture that I wouldn't wish on most people. It's hard to entertain relatives when they're from such different worlds, with different values and different ideas of what is good and what is not.
I hit the ground running on that Thursday (the 2nd) and I don't feel like I've really stopped yet. Actually, no...I take that back. I got a pretty good day today. Only eleven more days until school is out, too. And I am quite relishing my summer, believe me.
Some friends from high school have gotten back in touch with me. It's amazing to me that it's been nearly twenty years since I've talked to some of them. It's fun to catch up on old times and talk about what we were like then. Someone who knew me when I was....THAT girl over there with freckles.
Ah, memories.
We've come a long way. posted by Steph at 1:04 AM[edit]
