Sorry

Sorry for the long delay between posts. Things have been busy and hectic to say the least.

There is lots going on around our neck of the woods. School is busy. We are pretty well settled in and just plugging along on the curriculum. We are have 5 school days until the holiday break. I honestly can't wait. I think that all of us need a break from each other and from the daily grind of school. The kids are getting burnt out and that means that they start to act up.

We did have one of the most interesting things happen that I have ever experienced as a teacher (and a person really). We had a musher from Alaska come to visit. My school mascot is the husky and we are very proud of that. We follow the iditarod every year and each class follows a musher. Doug brought his practice sled, a lot of gear and the best part...one of his dogs. He has a kennel of about 20 but brought the most beautiful Alaskan Husky named Nightlight. He talked about Alaska. Doug really thought it was great how we were so cold when it was 45 out. He said that it was shorts weather. He walked the kids through a race and told them some very funny stories about snot-cicles, throwing coffee in -45 degree weather and it exploded. My 3rd graders were so interested in what he had to say that they hardly moved for his whole presentation. Hearing him talk about Alaska made me want to go there. Maybe someday.

We are getting ready for Christmas. We have a big tree and it lights up the living room (and some of the backyard). We will be getting together with the family and enjoying the season.

Hope everyone has a great holiday and a wonderful new year!

What a difference a week makes!

School starts tomorrow. I have been working steady on my room since last Thursday night. It has been a chore but well worth it. The first thing that had to be done was painting. Apparently the person before me thought that bright yellow helps kids work better. I differ in that opinion and maybe that is why she no longer works there. We painted the wall cookie crumb (tan basically) and it looks so much better. I really have to thank my master painter who did a fantastic job. If you need a painter he is available for hire and you can find his picture on the top right of this blog. I also have fantastic curtains that were custom made by my neighbor. She is also available for hire but I think her rates might be a little high. She is very busy and is currently working on another job for me! It has been a process unpacking and trying to figure out where I want everything. I am sure that it will change a hundred times between now and Christmas but for now this is how it is. Just for comparison I have included the before picture:

And these are the afters:




Much better don't you think!

Just on personal notes, we have also been dealing with getting the VW fixed after we were rear-ended by a lady a week ago. It was totally her fault but it is a process to get quotes and get it fixed. It was so minor that unless you know it happened you can't tell.

Frankie is getting settled. He is still learning that Pepper is in charge and plays when she wants to. He has really started to fill out and is fitting right in.

Talk to you soon and hope you enjoy the pictures.

New Addition to the Family

We have a new addition to our family today. His name is Frankie and he is an 8 month old Boxer. He's got some learning to do, and Pepper is definitely teaching him a few things. Number one, Pepper is the boss. Number two, we play when Pepper says we play, not when Frankie says we play.

Frankie is a real smart boy and hasn't had much training, so we've got our work cut out for us. He is pretty much house broken; been here since 6:45p and no accidents or on purposes.

At first, Pepper was pretty cool to him, but now, after an hour, Frankie is no longer afraid of her and she seems to be willing to play and be close to him. He has worn her out, but he is still ready to go. Puppies, have so much energy.

So, here are some pics...

We are Mac People

I am moving into a new age!

I am now a MacBook girl. I bought a new Apple computer and am so excited! Being a PC girl for my entire life has made this a little difficult but I am getting the hang of it. If I have any questions then I ask my trusted Mac expert, Mark. If he doesn't know then I use my moving from PC to Mac book. I think that I will love it. So far everything is going well.

The summer is picking up with things to do. I am going to inservices and trying to get things orgranized for the beinging of school. I am going to go to San Diego to visit the Sherlocks in August before school starts. It will be a great time.

Other than that nothing much going on. Hope everyone is well out there!
Kim

One Whole Year!!!

Well yesterday Mark and I celebrated our first anniversary. We had a great day. We went to eat dinner at a very nice Italian restaurant in Ft. Worth. We had good food, good wine and good company. Thanks to our great friends - JD, G and Kimmie for the bottle of champagne to celebrate.

Other goings on...

Still off of school. Enjoying being a housewife for the summer. We have painted our dining room and have decided that since the popcorn on the ceiling dates the house that we are going to scrape it off and paint it bright white. We are going to do one room at a time and take it weekend by weekend. We actually tested a small area and it is not as hard as we thought that it might be. After we get the ceilings scraped we will paint the rest of the house. Make it fresh as they say!

Jason, Amanda, Avery and Addison were here for a couple weeks on their way to Virginia. It was so nice to see them and spend time with them. Pepper (our dog) got to spend some time with Tanner (their dog) for the time they were here. They get a long very well.

Mark has gone back to GameStop. HD didn't work out. It seemed like they weren't interested in training him like he should have been. The new job is actually better hours, closer to home and a job more suited to his skills.

Better go for now!
Love,
Kim

Big News!

In the previous post I mentioned that I had a very promising job prospect. I had a telephone interview last week with a school in the Birdville ISD. It went really well and have decided that from now I on I will only interview by phone. The personnel director called me the next day and offered me the position. Since I had not met the teachers and principal I decided that I should. I went, talked with them and they seem really nice and normal. I have accepted the position. I will be teaching 3rd grade! I am so excited and can't wait for the new year although I am excited about having the summer off.

Yeah!!! Exciting news!
~Kim

Exciting Things Happening

Lots of exciting things are happening around the Hughes House these days.

For those of you that don't know, Mark has been hired on at The Home Depot. He will be working as a department head in lawn and garden. It is a step towards more money and power (his words - not mine!). Lawn and garden is the largest department in the store, the biggest money maker and the one with the most changes throughout the year. It is will be a big challenge for him but he will do exceptional at it. The store is brand new and will really be a one of a kind store. The only drawback is that he will be working in Grand Prairie - funny it seems like we all go back to where we started. It is a little bit of a drive but will be worth it in the long run. One of the best things is that he will be off of overnights.

Many of you know that I, too, am on the job hunt. I know that teaching is what I am supposed to do with my life I just don't think that Grand Prairie is where I am supposed to do it at. I am looking closer to home and have some very promising leads that I will write more about later when/if things pan out (don't want to jinx myself). Things work out for a I reason and I think that having a 2nd year under my belt has really allowed me to answer those interview questions much better and just instill in me more confidence. It will be very sad to leave some of the good friends at Crockett but I know that since they are good friends I will still keep in touch with them. We weathered some tough times but that is what brought us together. Others I will not miss (names deleted to protect --- well me). The hardest part is leaving the kids. I have developed bonds with some of them but I know as soon as school is out they will forget about me. It is one of things that they never tell you about in teaching. You attach yourself to these kids for almost 10 months and then they are gone from your life pretty much forever. I equate it to a death almost. Even the bad ones leave a stamp on your heart. Enough with that kind of talk!!! Probably why they call me the pushover!

I will close for now and hope that this finds everyone (is there anyone still out there?) doing well.
Kim

P.S. Sorry about the heavy use of parenthesis.

Home Improvements!!!

We have been doing some home improvement around the Hughes House. We finally have curtains in our living room! Those windows are gigantic so we had to find some that were long enough. Thanks to Ikea and my sewing machine we found what we were looking for.

We have not limited our home improvements to the inside, we have also done them outside. Well, Mark mostly but I helped pick things out!!!

An overview

That's all for now! We will work on the other front beds in the coming weeks.

Love,

Kim

Safe Return

Just wanted to let all interested parties know that Jason is back in the good ole USA. He returned to Yuma last night. I think that it took a few days to get back. I know that he must be glad to be home and back with the family.


As far as the drama in E-town, we have a new mailbox and the mail person assures us that someone was after something very specific in the box. He seemed to be pretty sure that it was a divorce situation or something.

That is all for now...open house tomorrow night so lots of work to do.

Kim

Drama in E-town

So this morning we had drama!!!

I was leaving for work when I noticed that the neighbor lady (he he) had mail all over her yard and that the postal side door to the community mailbox was open. It was apparent that either someone had broken into the mailbox or the mail person had left their side open. Since I didn't know which, I contacted my local 911 operator (more on her later) and reported the issue. In addition, I contacted the post office to let them know. They sent someone out right away to "fix" our box. Mark spoke to the man who said that someone had broken in and that it looked like they were targeting one specific person but that they couldn't be absolutely sure. Thankfully for the neighbor lady and us, I check it everyday. We are without a working mailbox currently and have no idea when it will be back in working order. For a person that loves getting mail, not getting any is a nightmare!

The 911 operator had a lot to be desired. She was rude and obviously not happy with her job. In speaking with an authority on 911 call centers, I was told that this "lady" probably had high seniority and felt like taking the call was beneath her. Having some call center experience myself, I had to agree. I am not sure if the black and white ever showed up but it is now in the post office's hands. I am sure that they are going to investigate vigorously!!!

On a separate note...

My students are taking the TAKS writing test on Tuesday. Keep them in your prayers that they will do what I have taught them and not have anxiety about it. They need all the help that they can get.

Hope that everyone out there is doing well and not freezing!

Love,
Kim

Various....

Happy 2007!

Hope that everyone is having a good year. I am recovering from the holidays and getting used to being back at work. My one real problem child gave me a gift and moved to another school. We are starting our test push. Our first test is February 13. Mark is doing well and things at his job are the same.



We cleaned out the garage enough so that one car can park inside. I figured since we are paying for this garage might as well use it for its intended purpose instead of storage. Hopefully when we get rid of the 2 refrigerators and the stove we can make room for the other vehicle. Any takers?

I am also including a picture of Pepper's cousin, Tanner Poston. Tanner stayed with us when Amanda and Avery were visiting over the holidays. He is a really nice dog and very sweet. Pepper loved having a playmate and I think Tanner liked it too. We are thinking seriously about getting another dog for Pepper just not as big as Tanner.


Lastly, I wanted to share with you a website of a man that Mark and I both think is genius. ** www.daveramsey.com ** If you are struggling financially, just getting by or want to get ahead --- he can help. He doesn't want anyone to be eating alpo or wondering where they are going to live when they retire. He has a podcast and is really uplifting. He is a Christian, and we think a really great man with good ideas.

Stay safe and well in 2007!

Love,
Kimberly and Mark
~ Live like no one else so that later you can live like no one else. ~