twice in one day...impressive

I'm back...I have to travel to Charleston tomorrow for a coaches' clinic, so of course I'm procrastinating. It is currently 10:16 p.m. I have to be up and gone by seven in the morning and, naturally, I am neither packed nor have I printed out any of the material I need for the conference. This is nothing new :) I should be looking forward to this clinic as I will actually be receiving some useful info, but I'm still going to be a baby and pout about it anyway.

Tomorrow is Justin's birthday; he'll be 27. I'm bummed b/c I won't be here to celebrate it with him. We plan on going to dinner Friday night. He's chosen Outback, which is definitely okay by me :) Now, all he needs to do is decide what kind of dessert he wants. You'd think this would be an easy task, but my husband isn't terribly fond of sweets (For shame, I know). He has narrowed it down to either strawberry cake with cream cheese icing or lemon apricot pound cake. I bought him a gun safe for his bday - we really needed one. It hasn't arrived yet but should be on its way.

Speaking of Justin, this reminds me. To clear up any confusion over my last post, Justin took the PRAXIS because he is interested in teaching. He really enjoys his current job as a police officer for the Beaufort Police Department and he likes most of the people he works with, but he's just not crazy about the hours. South Carolina has a program called the PACE program that allows people without degrees in education to become certified in an area they majored in. Justin is qualified to teach business through this program, so he's on the lookout for any positions that may open, specifically at Beaufort High where I teach. We have one business ed. teacher who has been on "leave" since last May and is under investigation for some unethical practices (to say the least), so we are currently waiting to see how that situation pans out.

I began the South Beach diet yesterday (again). This will be the third time that I've done so. The first was several years ago when, looking back, I had no business doing dieting of any kind. I guess we never appreciate our prebaby bodies until they are gone!!! The second time was in March when nothing else would get rid of my last 10 lbs. of baby weight. The diet worked but during the summer I have been eating horribly. I seem to have an all or nothing personality when it comes to food that is not good for me. I can't eat just one cupcake, I have to eat three or four. Same when it comes to doughnuts, or muffins, or cake, or cheesecake, or biscuits, or...well, you get the picture. I decided to begin Phase 1 of South Beach yesterday at (what time was it Jess??) about six p.m. I've been saying "I'll start tomorrow" for several weeks, so I decided to say "I'll start right now!" Jess, Wil, Justin, Sean and I went to Chili's for dinner last night, and, thankfully, they have plenty of tasty dishes that are "allowed." I had the margarita grilled chicken and shrimp (yum). Tonight, Justin grilled so we had steaks and salad. Easy enough. Justin's decided that he's going to start the diet as well; he's just trying to figure out when. It's tougher for him with his job. So often, they eat on the go, and it's much easier to grab some fast food or chips and a candy bar from the convenience store.

I guess I'll go find another outlet for my procrastination now - I wish everyone a blessed evening. Spend time with your families - I'll sure miss mine tomorrow and Wednesday. Happy bday Justin!!! I love you!!!!

back to school, back to school

Wow..so much for me updating my blog regularly :) Thanks, Wil, for calling me out and motivating me to write.

Justin, Sean and I spent the weekend in Charleston with Jess and Wil. We had a really great time - just relaxing, hanging out with friends, and eating some good food. Justin took the Praxis Exam Saturday morning for Business Education. For those who don't know, that's the teacher certification exam. Texas has their own version of teacher cert. tests, but most states use the Praxis. I have to take the Praxis before Aug. 2009. SC accepted my Texas scores for three years, so I better get on the ball and register.

For those of you close to me, you know I've struggled with deciding in what area I want to complete my Master's degree. I've begun three different Master's programs: criminology, educational administration, and educational counseling. I've definitely decided to pursue the public education route - for me personally, the job security and the fact that I really love what I do is impossible to ignore. After observing numerous assistant principals and counselors and speaking with both sets, I've decided to resume my Master's in educational admin. in the spring of '09. I do think I have the compassion that guidance requires, but I also possess the "tough love" that I firmly believe high school students need in a principal. And, to be frank, the money that principals make here is insane. I would START at twice my teaching salary. Luckily, the University of South Carolina has a distance education program. This will allow me to take my classes online, and I will only have to actually go into Columbia three Saturdays a semester - for an intro. meeting, the midterms, and the finals. My plan is to complete the program in a year and half. Beaufort has a difficult time finding administrators, so they will actually place you in an admin. position before you have completed the program. Not that I'm in a hurry to quit teaching, but I'll keep my options open. The application deadline for spring isn't until November, but I'd like to go ahead and complete my app. process before I head back to work. Most everything can be done online, so I plan on getting that taken care of this week. I'm crossing my fingers that I don't have to retake the GRE. I took the test in Nov. of 2001 before I graduated from LSU, and I'm not sure if they will accept those scores from sooooooooooooo long ago :) Wish me luck!!!