For June

Man oh man, are the kids excited this week! I hope I can survive the rest of the week. LOL!

I got my first Secret Santa present today. It was a cute little candy cane holder. Of course, I have no idea who pulled my name out of the hat. It's not because I haven't been trying to figure it out, though. LOL!

Today's wordart is a request. It's similar to one that I gave earlier, but I think that I like this one better. So,June, I hope it's what you wanted and I hope that there are others that can use it too.

Download Here

Now, It's my bedtime. Have a great day!

Destiny

I'm going to make a quick post. I'm having a hard time adjusting to the time change and I am really sleepy now.

Did everyone vote on Tuesday? You have to admit, that no matter who you voted for we're lucky to live in this country. It's going to be very interesting to see how the next four years go.

http://www.4shared.com/file/69808494/fa4cb32f/Destiny_11-5-08.html?

Hope

The computer problems I've beenhaving have really set me back on some things I need to get done. I took a nice long nap earlier and I'm off to bed again soon. I almost want to give up and not do some of the things I need to get done, but I've got people depending on me so I cna't do that. Instead, I'm going to keep doing the best I can do and hope that everything works out in the end.

We've all got our share of problems, and this too shall pass...

http://www.4shared.com/file/68667764/34cc9e8b/Hope_10-28-08.html?

Well, this day blew!

I had an aweful day! On top of the funeral my computer got sick and died. My friend Brent (Orange Croc Guy to those of you that know me) spent most of the day bringing it back to life for me. I owe him a lifetime supply of beer and will gladly repay the debt! He was able to save lots of my things and I am so grateful!

I've cried so much today my eyes are swollen. I want to crawl into a nice warm bubble bath and escape for awhile and that is exactly what I am going to do. I decided that before I write this day off I would make a list of some good things that happened so that I won't feel totally defeated. Here's my list...

1. I woke up (that's way better than the alternative)

2. I got on the scales and I was 4 pounds lighter than I was this time last week. (Don't know how that happened, just glad it did!)

3. I found my missing resort pass (thank goodness)

4. I found 20 dollars (yipee!)

5. I paid less than $3.00 a gallon for gas for the first time in I don't know how long (It was $2.99 LOL)

6. I have a friend that spent most of his day taking care of me (Thank you, Orange Croc Guy!)

Well that's my list. I feel better already! Now, it's off to that bubble bath then to bed.

I hope you don't have too many days like mine, but if you do remember....

http://www.4shared.com/file/68423261/75473873/Defeat_10-25-08.html?

Letting Go

I know a teenager with a broken heart. She has announced, in that dramatic way that only teenagers can, that her life will never be happy again. He was the best thing that ever happened to her and she isn't ever going to date anyone else. Well, her father was rather happy with the last part of her announcement. LOL!

She is sad and we tried not to let her see us laugh as she told us all that there was no way we could ever understand or when she checked the caller ID on a phone that didn't ring to see if she had missed a call from him. However, I'm pretty sure she heard the laughter after she stormed down the hall and slammed her bedroom door.

We weren't laughing at her. We were laughing because we have all been there. We were all just as dramatic. We were all just as sure that we would never recover from the heart break. We were also laughing because we were on our second pitcher of Margaritas, but she doesn't need to know that. LOL!

I want to tell her that she is going to be fine, no, better than fine. She is a young, beautiful, intelligent lady and she will know an endless amount of happiness in her life. The unhappy days that have been and that will continue to be sprinkled throughout her life are the days that will ultimately lead her to the places she needs to be so that she can know what true happiness is.

I want to tell her that maybe he is the best thing that has ever happened to her, but he is not the best thing that will ever happen. She is at the end of one road, but there are other roads to travel down and they each bring new adventures. What she considers "the best thing" at seventeen won't hold a candle to her "best thing" five years or even just one year from now.

I want to tell her that, much to her father's chagrin, she will date again. She will date and she will fall in love. Sadly, she may know more heartache. She may even cause someone's heart to break. But she will live to date another day and she will date even cuter guys. LOL!

I want to tell her that someday she will look back on this day and smile. She won't forget the pain she feels now but the sting from that pain will fade and only the memory will remain. She may look back and see her "what if" guy or she may look back and see an "OMG! What was I thinking" guy. Either way, she will smile.

I want to tell her these things but I think I will wait. I am going to wait because she is seventeen and sad. I am going to wait because right now these aren't the words she wants to hear. I am going to wait because I know she will just say that I don't understand. I am going to wait because like the saying goes---When you're seventeen, it's hard to see past Friday night.

Here's a goodie for anyone else that knows the pain of letting go...

http://www.4shared.com/file/68020068/863bb941/Letting_Go_10-23-08.html

1 apology and 2 Thank yous

I am so sorry but the Life is a party wordart had a mistake on it. I've fixed it now and reloaded it at 4shared. Thank you Kelsey for letting me know!

You can get the corrected version here...

http://www.4shared.com/file/67994131/aaa718f0/Life_10-21-08.html

My second thank you goes out to Christine. I don't always read my email before leaving in the mornings, but today I did and I am so glad! You will never know how much your short message meant to me. My spirit needed a lift and thanks to you it got one.

Here's a goodie for everyone in your honor...

http://www.4shared.com/file/67996441/49248457/Life_10-22-08.html

I can only make a quick post today. I've got lots of things to do and I am behind on all of them.....by that I mean that I haven't started any of them. LOL! I have candy bar wrappers to design for a 10 year old's birthday party, Halloween treats to make for my friends, patterns to trace for tomorrow's art center, a Halloween bragbook page to make for a swap I'm in and I need to design voter registration cards and ballots for the great GPES election of '08. I wonder who will win----ice cream or pizza. Thank goodness I've got a long weekend coming up!

After reading back over my last couple of entries here it looks like I've been in a very serious mood, but it's actually been quite the opposite. Have you ever noticed that it's when you are the busiest that you are the happiest and the most creative? Right now I'm so tired that I don't know if I'm coming or going but I've got a hundred ideas flowing through my brain. Maybe I'm coming out of that creative rut I've been in.

Enjoy your day! Here's a goodie for you...

http://www.4shared.com/file/67879449/6bf071f7/Rules_10-22-08.html

Then and now

Yesterday, I had someone from my past contact me. It was an old boyfriend. He was my "what if" guy. You know, the one you think about and wonder how different your life would be if you had stayed together. We had kept in touch through Christmas cards and the occasional phone call every year or so, but we hadn't seen each other since right after college. So, when he called to say that he was in Miami and would love to see me I was shocked. Mostly, because he had always said that he hated Miami. LOL!

I met him for dinner last night and we did some sight seeing. We laughed over stories from our past and caught up on our current lives. His son turning sixteen, my still having a North Carolina accent, the divorce from his wife, the fact that I still can't speak spanish, the new job that brought him to Miami, my love for this city that keeps me here, the chances of him visiting again...

Well, it was good to see him and the sight of him still makes my heart skip a beat. He has grown into an even more wonderful man then he was all those years ago and he was pretty wonderful then. His life is full and happy and I am happy for him.

After I left him at his hotel, I smiled all the way home. We had shared a wonderful night, but (didn't you just know there would be a but) I wouldn't trade the life I've known since we parted for the life I would have had if things had worked out for us way back then. Staying with him all those years ago would have meant never meeting Charlie, the real love of my life.

It's been almost three years since Charlie passed away and they've been rough years. I miss him everyday, but the years that we had together have given me the strength to get through. My life is not perfect and it isn't the life I used to dream of, but it's my life and it's a pretty good one to have.

My life may not be perfect, but I do have perfect days and if those Dolphins had been able to pull off a win, yesterday would have been one of them. LOL! I can't wait to see what today has in store for me!

How are you going to spend your day...

http://www.4shared.com/file/67581680/4667fed1/Today_10-20-08.html

Special things

Just a quick post today. Lots and lots of things to get done. Have a wonderful and special day!

http://www.4shared.com/file/66537665/5c4242a9/Special_10-18-08.html

Crafting Area

Last night I was trying to clean up the room I do my crafting in. It's a small space so it should have been easy, but OMG! I couldn't believe how much stuff I had stored in there. LOL! I've always looked at pictures of workrooms in the magazines and thought about how much I wish I had that space. Well, not anymore! After my feeble attempt to clean my space I've decided that it fits me perfectly---just like an old comfortable shoe.

Here's a goodie for anyone that knows what I'm talking about...

http://www.4shared.com/file/66215282/9660f90b/Work-room_10-16-08.html

Sorry!

I got word that the links weren't working for the "attitude" downloads. I have reloaded the graphics and they should be working now. You can also pick them up here...

http://www.4shared.com/file/67080293/290dc020/Boy_Attitude_10-14-08.html

and here...

http://www.4shared.com/file/67080325/2258d6e9/Girl_Attitude_10-14-08.html

Now, here's a goodie about another attitude that some of you may understand to help make up for any problems the bad links caused...

http://www.4shared.com/file/67080143/9ee50034/Cats_House_10-15-08.html

It happened again

Yesterday, there were more budget cuts made and my school lost more employees. It's so sad, because all the kids are still there wanting and waiting to learn. Everyone is expected to do more with less in order to give the kids everything they need and deserve. But, we must do this while our hearts hurt for the others that have been let go and while we worry about our own jobs.

It is hard to stay positive with the economy the way it is, but we need to try our best to do hust that. So, say a prayer, cross your fingers, wish on a star and hope with all your might that things will get better soon.

Here's a goodie for everone that still has hope...

http://www.4shared.com/file/66523293/87b2ed68/Hope_10-11-08.html

Being true

The world is a mess right now! Where I work three teachers were told that they no longer had jobs. Isn't that awful? You're working one day and the next you're not. I feel so bad for them. To make up for the lost teaching positions other teachers had to be moved around. They had to give up their classrooms and the students that they had already bonded with to be moved to another grade level. They have to greet new students that had already bonded with another teacher and try their best to teach them a curriculum they aren't familiar with. They have to do this without the raises we were promised in our contracts but with all the pressures to make sure their new students perform well on standardized testing.

Somedays it's hard to remember why we became teachers in the first place. We are no longer shown the respect the teachers of our youth were shown. We must accomplish more than ever before and we must do this with less money, time and supplies than ever before.

Somedays it would be easy to quit. Easy to walk away. Who would miss us anyway? We only hear from parents when they aren't happy and when budget cuts need to be made it's the classroom teachers that feel the pain first.

The days that make quitting seem like a great idea are the days that we have to remind ourselves that we are where we are needed. We are making a difference. We do matter. These are the days that we have to be true to ourselves.

Here's a goodie for anyone that has ever wondered if they were doing the right thing...

http://www.4shared.com/file/64712975/d94c27a5/Compromise_9-30-08.html