A milestone

25. I'm now officially 25 years old. 25 years ago, the world didn't know about Abby.

It sounds like such a small number. In reality, it is. If I had 25 cents, I'd be bummed. If I had 25 minutes before a test, I'd be cramming. BUT, because I have 25 years (tengo veinte y cinco años), I'm freaking out.

After our loss on Tuesday, we were sitting at Chick-fil-a and I was talking to my amazing assistant coach and a player's mother and her 2nd grade son (also one of my students.)
Coach: Is it a milestone birthday?
Me: yes, as a matter of fact, it is. I'm a quarter of a century old.
Coach:....hmm...I can't even remember 25 (she's about 40)....let's see....where were we? We were in Kentucky just starting a youth group...
Me: We! See! You had a we! At 25, you had a we! I want a we!

2nd Grader: I have a Wii.

All of us burst into laughter, just amazed and dumbfounded.
Me: Well, I guess my problem's solved. Just go to Walmart and I can get a we!
Coach's husband: Well, if you stay in the electronic section long enough...you might be able to get yourself a we. That would be the place to go to find one.
Me: Yah, but I'd really want to find cingular in the section so it could turn into a we...


My day was great. I felt so treasured. I was sung the happy birthday song at least 8 times today. Sometimes they sang in English THEN in Spanish. The lady in an office beside my room was about fit to be tied after all day of singing. I also received "giftcards" from the 2nd graders-paper folded in half with things like, $23,948,604,928,274,574,930@#¢. I also got a flipbook of birthday pictures, 2 3 cornered birthday hats and a ring.

More to come tomorrow....I'm so beat!

I want to go home!

I don't want to be here. I want to go home.

The Answer

By God's amazing power, I was able to find my roommate's friend at a church where there are over 2,000 people my age. I asked her if she could tell us anything about what was going on. She told me that my roommate admitted herself to a hospital and she's getting the treatment she needs. We don't know how long she'll be there, but she's safe and taken care of. I am to contact my roommate's sister for the situation about rent, etc.

So, now my anger has dissipated and prayer has filled me. Please continue to pray for the situation and for my roommate. I don't know what we are going to do in the future. I'm sorry I can't tell you more, but what I've told you is plenty enough for praying. :-)

Thanks to all who have been praying. I am so appreciative!

The Crazy Day

I had a crazy day yesterday. It was sooo long and full of so many things I just don't know where to start.

I need you to be praying for my roommate situation. Without going into too much detail, my roommate has left me and my other roommate to fend for ourselves when paying this month's rent. She is unreachable. I've tried to call her MULTIPLE times, now her phone is off and her voice mailbox is full. Not do solely to me, but also to everyone else who is trying to find her/contact her. She hasn't been home since Tuesday morning. I haven't seen her since last Thursday. Her friend stopped by on Wed to pick up some things for her and told me she would be staying with her for a couple of days. She wouldn't tell me anything else-just that she would have her call me. No phone call yet. She's not in danger at all, but I don't know what's going on. What I do know is that we have to pay her rent because there is no individual accountability with our lease. It's a one check, on time deal. So dumb. SOOO dumb. So, I'm sick to my stomach about all of this, wondering if she'll ever come back and how I' m going to handle it when she does. I need wisdom, calmness and whatever else one needs in this situation. This is real life stuff and I don't like it.

With that on my mind, and having to teach that day, plus a crazy picture day with getting the girls in and out of their volleyball uniforms (during my 8th grade history class), I had to gear up for our first away volleyball game. Get the balls, the medical kit, the water bottles and snacks, clipboard, scorebook, and all 18 girls. I had to drive a 15 passenger van full of girls in the rain for over 35 minutes. I took it for a practice drive in the parking lot just to get a feel for it. Praise God I learned how to drive in a minivan and had to maneuver Dad's truck around. I had to run back into school to get my phone, and I slipped and fell down the stairs. It hurt SOOOO badly. Knocked the wind out of me and I screamed. It was not good. I'm sore and feel like I played 3 volleyball games.

We got there in time and had a great couple games. It was SOOOOO close! We won!! The first game was 23-25 them, then 20-25 us, and then we got the last one 9-15. It was intense. My captain and best (and only) overhand server could only get one serve over then she messed up. NOT like her at all! She usually gets 10 points in a row. Then she fell and was out for the rest of the 2nd game and 3rd game. Stepping into her place was our secret weapon (even a secret for me!) she scored at least 14/25 points. Unbelievable. I also took another girl out before she served because she just can't get it over. The next round I let her serve and she got 6 points! I made her prove it to me that she could do it. That's my new method. Make them prove it to me. I jumped about 7 feet in the air when we won. The girls were laughing at me but it was a GREAT moment. We also got a team picture taken that was beatiful!I'll post it when I get it. I told the girls that we have to win it in 2 next time. My heart can't take that stress!

OUR FIRST VICTORY!

It's sooo late, so I won't go into the details right now (though it's killing me) but WE WON!!!! 2-0! GO CRUSADERS!!!!!

The Game

Yesterday was a crazy day of emotions. While I was teaching Spanish, I was internally freaking out about the game. I had no clue how the things at the beginning works. It was not a fun day. Then, when it came to game time, I was soooooo nervous and excited and I couldn't wait to see how the girls were going to do. I didn't do ANYTHING right with having line ups ready for each game, or having a plan with who is going in. I just thought--um...I'll sub when I need to. ERRR!!! Wrong! I'll know better for next time.






The girls looked AMAZING in their socks! I had them wear them all day at school which was super cool for them and made me smile each time I saw them. (Hey, I know too much pride is a bad thing, but this was earned pride. :-) They looked impressive on the court too.

I had to have a score keeper and no one knew how to keep score. So, my assistant had to keep score which meant that she couldn't coach at all. She's the one who knows all this volleyball stuff and she just had to sit there! She did whisper to me different time about taking timeouts. I totally forgot about time outs. Good thing she was there... :-)

So, our first game was AMAZING. We did a great job working together and getting it over. One girl got 6 points in a row from her serving. We just need to get everyone else's serves over too. We won the first one. We lost the 2nd one. And then, the last one....... we lost too. It was sooo close. So many times it was tied. The girls played really well for their first game. We definately have things to work on, but I was pleased with my girls. I almost told someone we won!

My friends and I went out to celebrate my first game (or they just needed a reason to go out to eat) at Unos. On the way there, Eric, Mr. PE teacher, told me: Abby, I made an observation of your coaching. (oh no....what did I do....) You smile way too much. You need to have a game face on. Show that other coach and the refs that you mean business.

So...between now and Thursday, I'll be working on my "mean coach face". I hope I remember to pack a pair of my angry eyes....

Sept 16, 4:00

This date has been stuck in my mind for more than a month. I've based other dates on it because I knew that today, Tuesday, was Sept 16. And I'm nervous.

Our first Middle School volleyball game is today. AGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I don't know what I'm doing! Score card? Roster? Lineup? Triangles and circles on the scorecard? Looks like Greek to me....or a Kindergarten worksheet. How many subs can I put in? Should I let ALL 19 girls play? What do I do with my captain who chipped 2 teeth at practice yesterday? Can she play today? And the other 8th grader who ran into her and has a sore back and front hip? Do I put her in? Is it really just about having a good time or is it okay to want to win? I want to win!!!


(deep breath) The good thing is is that the girls LOVED the socks. We found out that if turned inside out, they are a bright blue! Who knew?! The girls were so grateful and kept talking about them. I was a little happy. Ok, A TON happy. Hmmmmm.....the work was worth it. The PE teacher (a friend) laughed at the socks when I showed them to him. I told the vball girls that he did that and then I encouraged a mass "booing" chorus. It was music to my ears and a lot of fun. :-)

So, here I go...off to teach computers and spanish and 8th grade history. THEN---game time!

The Result

494 rubber bands, 38 socks, at least 60 gallons of water, the removal of those 494 rubber bands and at least 16 hours of my time resulted in this.

Good Idea, Bad Idea

Good Idea: buy white socks to tie-dye for the vball girls instead of ordering them. It would have been $160 for 19 pairs of socks. This endeavor cost me only $35.


Bad Idea: putting on all of the rubber bands BY MYSELF! 13 rubber bands/1 sock * 38 socks= 494 rubber bands. You should see my fingers. I think my hands will permanently taste like rubber bands. I started the task at 4pm. I finished at midnight. Yep, 8 hours of rubber band wrapping. AND they still aren't dyed. That's tomorrow's project. But I did find out that you can put them in the washing machine and do them ALL at the same time. Yes, yes. I know. I need to bleach out my washing machine when I'm finished. I don't plan on looking like a smurf.

Lesson Learned: The girls should pay me the $125 difference for all of the time I put into those socks. Now I know why the socks cost that much.

I hope they turn out right. I didn't try one to see if the pattern I created will give me the result I want. Let's pray!!!!!

Another bad idea: doing this when I haven't done any school work AND when I have to get up @ 6 for church tomorrow (oh....today.....)

On that note... Goodnight!

Laughs at school

Over the past 24 hours, I've been privileged to experience some pretty silly things. Laughable. Memorable. Reminds me why I like to teach. Enjoy!

• 1st grader, on the way into my Spanish room- "Mamasita!!! That means hot mama in Spanish." He didn't even think-oh, maybe I shouldn't say this to my teacher. He just said it like he was saying, HOLA!
  

• Kindergartner leaves the Spanish room to use the bathroom and returns rather quickly. Erin, fellow teacher, in the room across from mine asks, "Did you wash your hands?" He looks shocked, replies: "Oh! I forgot!" (run run run....water running...run run run back)

• Playing Alphabeto Bingo-1st grader asks, "Can you say the letters in English?? I don't know them this way".

• Yesterday in the computer lab, I was watching the Kindergartners use KidPix, a program that is like paint but a TON more fun. Yes, I admit that I sit there and do things on it while they are working. :-) So, anyhow, yesterday, I thought that I'd have fun with them. At the teacher's computer, I can control each computer individually. So, I double-clicked on Maysa's computer and picked up the paint brush and wrote HI MAYSA! on her screen. Her reaction during the mysterious message writing was priceless. The hand that was on the mouse is now at her side, her jaw is almost on the keyboard and she isn't moving. She's just in AWE. Then she studders in astonishment: "Sen.... Senor...Senorita Peffer.... the computer wrote my name!!!!" I act just as astonished and move on to the next victim. The kid reacts the exact same way and then Maysa pipes in, "YAH! Me too!!!" "I got a smiley face!" Over and over again, I act like Ghost Writer (the greatest show on PBS) and just giggle myself into hysterics, enjoying their reactions. I then saw kids trying to duplicate what I did, so it ended up being a great teaching tool. My intent-no. My intent was to mess with their little minds. But, in the end, it was also educational. One of the kids kept saying in this woahhh voice: "The computer... it knows my name...... the computer...it knows my name....."

Oh the joys of teaching!

The First Week

Right now I should be at my aunt and uncle's, relaxing in their pool with my cousins, having great talks with my cousin Emmy, then playing a game (or 5) of croquet, eating amazing food, talking about boys with Katie, avoiding Tyson's loud bark and Lacy's toe-licking, playing Taboo, listening to Papa's stories and then a game of football and hide and seek. It's the 2nd year it hasn't happened. Last year was due to my cousin's memorial service and this year.......I don't even know. It's a mystery. No one will really say. It's really frustrating because I want to be there with everyone. It HAS to happen next year. HAS TO! Em and I will make it happen.


The first week of school is over and we've been blessed with Labor Day so we can recuperate! I always thought it annoying that we just get school started and then we have a day off-it really throws off the planning and the routines of the classroom. BUT---after the week of in-service and then the week of school, I'm super pumped about our day off!

Erwin and I are going to the pool for the LAST TIME of the summer. It's going to be packed because it's at a campground and it's a holiday, but we are going to take on the challenge. I've decided that my $65 pool pass was the best purchase of the summer. We just have to find something to do during the winter that will give us the same results as the pool-complete and utter relaxation---if you have any ideas, let me know! I think this dragging on of summer might cause a slight depression stage when we can't go to the pool.... :-(

The week was a lot of repetition for me-telling my 10 spanish classes (2 times) and my 6 computer classes the rules of my classroom and how my HUGE globe is NOT a soccer ball. We marched around my room singing the alphabeto song. It's to the tune of the military chant that they say when they are running. The had a BALL doing it! I'll be doing the same thing for the younger kids, the older kids I'm going to work on identifying the letters IN SPANISH-like spelling things in spanish letters, etc. It'll be fun.

The first day of History (after bawling my eyes out Sunday night at 10:30) went "God-Jammin" well! He totally told me what I needed to say and do. I told them they had 5 mins to write their history. They were puzzled (my goal was reached!) but wrote anyhow. We made the connections to what they wrote to what we read in history and why Biblical history is so important. Then we read outloud, talked, took notes. So, day one was great, and the other days just kinda "went". If you're a teacher, a day that just "went" does not make you feel accomplished or proud of your work. So, the next chapter WILL be different. I think I'll be working on that most of today. After the pool it's a trip to school to make this week better than last.

I think each week should only be 4 days long.........

Enjoy your Labor Day!

7 minutes

7 minutes.

I just heard Erin say "7 minutes until our first special".

It's showtime! Bring on the Kindergarten!!!

The compliment of my life

I might have forgotten to tell some of you this. I am also coaching 5-8th grade Volleyball. I am SOOO excited about this, yet I don't really know what I'm doing. Aunt Diane has been great at sending me things and telling me what books I need to read to get ready for this adventure. I've had all of the girls in PE or in class, so it'll be nice to go into a group of girls I'm familiar with. I can't wait to get to know them better and to have fun with them and to coach them. I'm sure I'll be on the phone a lot with her, running things past her to see if I'm doing it right. The season is REALLY short-Sept and October- so it'll be here and over before I know it. (At least that's what I'm told...I'll tell you later if it was true!)

We just had a week of inservice which included early mornings, sessions and LONG nights of preparing the classroom. On Thursday my friends and I were there from 8:30am to 11:45pm. Yep. This is why teachers get all summer off. Last night was Back to School Night, which is where all the kids and parents come and meet their teachers. They don't really care to meet the Elementary Spanish teacher, so I was in the middle school orientation for 8th grade history. After it was over, the elementary coordinator tells me that the principal was looking for me. She tells me, "Mr. Jones said that the Spanish room has never looked better than it does now with the and 3 or 4 spanish teachers we've had and the 20+ years that he's been at the school." This is coming from a man who notices NOTHING and if he does notice something, he doesn't really tell you. He is a man of VERY FEW compliments. Maybe one every five years. My jaw would have hit the FLOOR if it was possible. I got the compliment of my life. I was so elated I didn't know what to say back.









Today Erin and I decided we needed on last "Hoorah for Summer" so we went to the pool and read a "fun book". We needed one last relaxing day before our year begins. School starts on Monday. I have no clue what I'm going to say or what I'm going to teach, or what I'm going to wear (ALWAYS important :-). I'm heading in to school now to write lesson plans for the week of History and probably the next month of computer and Spanish.

Prayer requests
Flexibility for teaching the lower grades
Ability to teach 7 different grades
Excitement for American History class
Volleyball
Desiring and keeping a constant walk with Christ

Hyperventilating.....

It hit me.

Today, it hit me hard.

School is starting soon and I'm doing 4 BRAND new things...it's my 3rd first year....there is this sudden urge to go hide under a rock and breathe really really fast.

I feel a panic attack coming on....literally....

Today was full of whirlwind things. I had to move things to my other classroom, where I realized (and was told) that I need to figure out what I'm going to do with all of my "normal" classroom things so I will make room for the Spanish stuff. I have no clue what I'm going to be using during the school year. I might need my left over lion's mane and my Hawaiian hat. At the same time. Who knows! Then I asked when Volleyball started and she told me. The second day of school. I got this panicky look on my face and then was told, don't worry, the season will be over so fast that you won't have time to realize you're overwhelmed.

What a comfort.

It's too late! I'm overwhelmed already. 10 classes of Spanish (2 times a week), 6 classes of computer, and 8th grade History. Where do I even begin??

Tomorrow Erin and I have decided to put the idea of school off ANOTHER day and go for our last fling at the pool. Then a trip to IKEA with the new roommate Wendy and her parents, for some needed furniture and some therapy for Erin and I.

It's so easy to say, Oh yah, I trust that God will give me the strength to do this, sure! It's NOT so easy to actually TRUST and remember that you have chosen to TRUST.

Please Lord. Calm my anxious heart. Help me to breathe.