Anger Management

Psalm 4:4 (New International Version)
In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.

Today at work, I had to deal with a very angry young man. He was upset because the lead teacher got on to him for disrupting the class. It wasn't a big deal really, but this child is the type that seems to have a very short fuse. I was able to take him out into the hall and get him calmed down and then the rest of the time in class he was fine.

Another time today, a child I worked with last year walked up to me in the hallway and smiled. I was so glad to see him and gave him a hug. He has Asperger's Syndrome, which means he is prone to what is kind of like a temper tantrum or "meltdown". The problems with his temper led to a lot of problems last year, but he seems to be doing better now.

Those two occurences made me think. Do you ever have those times when you can finally seem to understand what the good is that has come from something difficult you've been through? I had one of those times today. I realized that were it not for things I'd been through myself (and things that at the time I'd rather not have gone through!), then I wouldn't the abilities I have now.

I L.O.V.E. working with kids who have anger issues. I seem to be really good at working with them. I can sometimes develop a relationship with kids that few others can. I know how to remain calm and I know how to show respect even when I'm being disrespected. And I don't say this to brag, because I know that my natural self could never, ever do it. I know that when I'm able to do these things it is because of the fact that Christ lives in me.

There were so many trials in my life that trained me for what I do now in my job. The fact that I was abused as a child helps me to always stop to think about what the reasons may be for a child acting out in class. I've had plenty to be angry about in my life, so I can see why they might be angry. I have a husband with some anger issues and a child who we're pretty sure has Asperger's Syndrome , which means we deal with "meltdowns" frequently. All of these seem to have been boot camp for working in special education.

It never ceases to amaze me how God works in our lives to use all things, good or bad, for the glory of His kingdom. It's not easy going through the tribulations of our lives and sometimes I want out of them so badly, but I am thankful to know that He does have a plan. And I am thankful to be part of it.

Oh, and by the way, thanks for your prayers about my exhaustion. I'm feeling much more energized today!

Feet, Don't Fail Me Now!

On the positive side, school is going amazingly well. On the negative side, my feet H.U.R.T.! I am so totally not used to spending time on my feet after having the summer off work. And tired is not the word to describe how I feel right now.

Aside from total exhaustion, I am loving being back at work with all my friends and with the kids too. Now if I could get past the exhaustion back to being able to function once I'm off work, that'd be great. Right now, once I'm home from work I don't want to do a single thing. No dishes. No laundry. And especially no stack of forms that the kids need that should already be done. Did I mention I was exhausted?

I want to be able to make this post so much longer and tell you how much I love my job, because I really, really do. But until I've gotten past this first couple of weeks (hopefully!), my brain just might not be able.

Hope this post even made sense.... **yawn**

Gosh, I Love That Kid!

Don't know how I could've forgotten to post earlier my favorite thing that happened on the first day of school (probably because it was a very hurried post before I rushed off to bible study). I wasn't sure that one of my favorite kiddos would even remember the nickname she gave me last year. Then as class began, I walked over to say hello to her and tell her I'd missed her over the summer. And then she said it...in her special exasperated tone seemingly pretending that she didn't miss me..."It's the joy fairy". Gosh, I love that kid!

The Honeymoon Period

The kids at school were incredibly and unbelievably good today. We barely had to get onto any of them at all. They were little angels in each class. Now if they can just keep that up for the next 176 days left in the school year. Considering the fact that some of our kiddos end up in resource class simply for behavior issues, that's not likely...but I can dream, can't I?

Oh, and for those of you who thought I was good at math simply because I'm an aide for a math class, umm...no. The class I'm working in is taught at about a 4th grade level and I kinda have to re-learn some of that as the teacher teaches it. Nope, no math genius here...

Altogether for a first day, not bad. Not bad at all.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow..

Less than 24 hours till the kids are back in school. I found out my assignment for this year and I will be working in the resource math class. Woohoo, I will be in one classroom with one set of kids pretty much all the time. I'm very happy about that because last year I was all over the place in different classrooms and had so many kids to check on that I would only get to see some of them a couple of times a week. Hopefully I will feel like I'm able to help the kids more since I will see the same ones all the time.

Now I'm off to get my laundry done so I will have something decent to wear tomorrow...

A Time For Hot Flashes

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (New International Version)
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven

Some people say that Texas doesn't really have seasons and I can understand why. Really, you just "never know what you gonna get". It can literally end up being 80something degrees any day during the year and I once saw two days back to back where one day was 81 degrees and the next was 18 degrees. It's amazing how quickly things can change. That would be why they say "If you don't like the weather in Texas, just wait a few minutes".

Since I sometimes experience hot flashes, and no I cannot be old enough to have those, I am longing for some 18 degree days right now. Well, maybe not 18 degrees, but I'd definitely like to see some cooler temps. While the weather has cooled down about 10 degrees for the highs, mid 90s aren't really what I'm looking for right now.

Another problem with warm temperatures and hot flashes is that it makes having a warm laptop computer harder to deal with. I long to keep in touch with my bloggy buddies, yet the longer I have this computer in my lap, the warmer I get.

So this is the time of the year when I cry come quickly winter, come quickly. And yes, in December I will probably be whining about the cold...lol.

I Love My Kids

Psalm 127:3 (New American Standard Bible)
Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.

I love my kids. I love my kids. I love my kids. I love that they are home with me and not out getting into trouble. I love that they are healthy. I love that they make good grades and have nice friends. I love that they don't cause trouble at school. I love that their teachers tell me they are great kids.

Ok, I feel better now. I just needed a little bit of gratitude journaling to remind me of those things because at this very moment they are driving me C.R.A.Z.Y.

I've always been against letting my kids have "their own little apartments", meaning that I don't generally put tv's, computers, stereos, etc. in their rooms. Sometimes an extra tv will make its way there, but there's no cable in their rooms, so they don't care to watch tv there. The reason for this is because I want my children to be around me. I don't want to get to the point where I have no clue who they are because I've not interacted with them enough.

Then there are times like this evening when I almost wish they had "their own little apartments", when there is seemingly neverending talking infused with quite a bit of arguing over just about ANYTHING. They kick each other and yell at each other. They flick each other with wet wash rags. They act like they can't stand each other while I yell "STOP IT!"

And just when I don't think I can stand it any more, they start watching the olympics and actually conversing with each other about what they're both watching. They actually talk to each other and laugh about something. They have a real relationship with each other; a relationship I don't see with many siblings these days. They don't always act like they love each other, but I know that they do.

Thank You Father for the blessing of my children. Thank You for reminding me how blessed I am.

Happy Times At The Donut Palace

Genesis 9:13 (New International Version)
I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

No, I didn't get to eat any donuts, but I did get a picture of a rainbow...and realized that the Donut Palace really needs a new sign.

Tired...so tired...

What a night last night was! In case you missed yesterday's post, my 16 yr. old daughter had freshman initiation for the new flute players in the band here at our house. We had 20 teenagers in our small house and back yard. They had fun dressing the freshmen in silly outfits and had a candy filled piñata for them to bash.

I was supposed to be able to sleep while my older daughter, age 24, watched all the kids. That didn't quite happen as I felt the need to check on things quite frequently. That wasn't the kids' fault, they were really good and quiet all things considered.

I should've done what S4J said and just said no... Nah, not really. It was worth it, I guess. Even though I am completely wiped out after working all day (and a really crazy busy day it was) on 2 1/2 hours of sleep, I know that the kids had a blast. I think it's someone else's turn to host "freshman wakeup" next year though.

I think I will eat dinner and go to bed very soon...

My Crazy Weekend

Short post to say I had a very busy weekend. I worked till 4:00pm yesterday and then left at about 5:00pm to go visit my dad and stepmom who live 2 1/2 hours away. It's my dad's birthday today and we wanted to surprise him with a visit since it's been quite a while since we've seen him.

If you've read my story, you may wonder about my visiting my dad. It's a long story to tell how God worked things out, but I don't have time to tell it right now. Long story short though, my dad is not the same person I grew up knowing. God has performed a work in his life that is nothing short of miraculous in my opinion. I have been wanting to share the details for a while, but just haven't yet. I hope to have that post done one of these days soon though.

We had a very nice, if also very quick visit with my dad and stepmom. We got to meet his Sunday school group (which he says are the best ever and I must say they do seem very sweet) and then got to listen to him play his guitar and sing for their church service.

We're home now and in a couple of hours there will be 15-20 kids in my home for "freshman wakeup", meaning my daughter K and her upper classmen band friends (along with my 24 yr. old daughter) will go wake freshman from the high school band at about 12:30am, bring them to my house and make them do silly things as a type of initiation. Don't worry though, no one will actually be made to do anything of course.

"Freshman wakeup" is supposed to happen downstairs while I sleep peacefully upstairs because I have to work tomorrow. We'll see if that happens. Am I crazy? Yeah, must be. Glutton for punishment? Yeah, must be that too.

If I have survived this weekend, maybe I'll get a post done some time tomorrow... :)

Olympics Question

So I heard an interesting question on the Olympics Channel (didn't know there was one, but my 16 yr. old has been recording it). If you could compete in any of the summer Olympics sports, which one would you do?

For me, it would definitely be gymnastics. Specifically, I love the uneven bars because I used to think I was pretty good at them when I was a kid. I was totally enthralled with Nadia Comanici in the 76 Olympics. I'd like to opt out of the balance beam though because I'm a little afraid of heights.

So what's your sport?

My New Hair Cut

Ok, I'm a little self-conscious (aka self-absorbed), so I don't really like to post pictures of myself. But here goes.

This is before (hair has been up in a clip all summer)

And this is the after shot. Keep in mind that without the prodding of a couple of blog friends and if I hadn't just fixed myself up to go out, this would not be happening!

This reminds me, I really need new wallpaper in my bathroom..lol.

Now I am outta here. :)

A Dear Friend

Ecclesiastes 4:10 (New International Version)
If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

Today I get to go hang out for a while with a dear friend, Robin, who I haven't seen in way too long. For years I worked as her assistant and we talked almost every day. We got to be really close after her husband died in a skiing accident in 2002. I helped her through the grief of losing her husband (as best a friend can) and she helped me through one of my difficult times as well. We called it free therapy (gotta love that!). Since she moved 45 minutes away (as opposed to literally around the corner), it's been more difficult to find the time to get together. I've missed my friend and am really excited to get to spend time with her today!

Changing the subject, I did get my hair cut yesterday, but I'm not sure I like the way my stylist does highlighting. I have been with her for quite a few years, but I may have to leave her. Oh, the angst of finding a new stylist!

I'll probably post a pic of my hair later on anyway. I just have to play with it and see how I want to style it. I may ask Robin for her opinion.

Oh well, I need to go shower and fix my hair so I can get ready to leave. Have a wonderful day my bloggy buddies!

Sense of Accomplishment...And Being Grateful

It can be done. Just like Jenn suggested in response to my last post, you can work on this...

And this...(and no, that is not me...but you get the idea)

...and you can do those at the same time. Well maybe not exactly the same time, but I did manage to do about 5 loads of laundry in between laying out in the sun and getting my exercise swimming...well I did swim 6 lengths of the pool and it's a big pool, so there. Best thing is that now I feel like I have actually accomplished something. I did get a teensy bit of a sunburn, but that'll go away in a day or two. :)

So while I was in between loads of laundry floating and relaxing in the pool..very nice and quiet, no kids fighting (they were at band camp), it got me to thinking about how very blessed I am; how God has provided for my needs and a lot of my wants as well. I am so thankful to have a pool that is in working order (as opposed to my pool a few weeks ago) and I am also thankful to have a working washer and dryer. I can't imagine having to do laundry the way people did it before those lovely appliances, especially with the summer temperatures. And that reminds me to be VERY thankful for air conditioning!

All in all, it was a very nice day.

Working On My List

I posted a to do list the other day and there are so many things I could've added to that list. And for some reason, when I have a big list of things to be done and a short amount of time to get them done, I stop and do pretty much nothing. Aghhh. I did get an appointment to see my hairdresser tomorrow (yeah!) and hopefully my new hair will help motivate me to get moving and get more done. I don't really understand how new hair does that for me, but it usually does.

So the question of the day is...should I go work on my tan since the sun has come out after a cloudy couple of days? Or should I tackle Mt. Laundry? Maybe I'll try to do both? Not sure how that would work out, but I'm always up for a challenge when it comes to seeing if something can be done...lol.

Totally changing the subject...Wow! Earlier today I read a post over at Casa de Castro that gave me chills. It also made me think of the song in this video for some reason. This is one that can get a congregation movin' on a Sunday morning. I love how you can find just about anything on the internet. God is good, All the time!

An Award For Me?

I want to thank Joan for giving me the Arte y Pico blog award. I get all nervous when I get a compliment, so I have no clue what to say. Joan's blog More God = Less Me is a great place for encouragement and laughs too. Check her out and thank you Joan.

Now it's my turn to give this award to 5 inspiring bloggers who I think are the greatest out there. I read every time they post something.

1. HisGirl's blog is amazing!
2. I love Sing4Joy's musical influence.
3. Casa de Castro is funny and inspiring.
4. Lila's Journey is one of my new favorites.
5. Last, but certainly not least, Gretchen's Blog always has something great to offer.

Congratulations to my bloggy friends. Check them out for great reading.

The rules for this award are:

• You must pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award, based upon creativity, design, interesting material, and that also contribute to the blogger community.

• Each award must have the name of the author with a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

• Award-winners must show the award and put the name and link to the blog that awarded it.

• Award-winners and the one who has given the prize must show the link to the Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

• These rules must be included in your post.

Countdown Begins

It's time to count down the days till I go back to work and make a list of things I would like to accomplish before then. 6 days and counting. Things I would like to accomplish:



1. Get my hair done. Seriously, my roots are about 3 inches long!



2. Make several dishes up to freeze portions to take to work.



3. Get all the laundry done. Prayers requested as this is not an easy task in my home.



4. Get the kids' school supply shopping done.



5. Go buy at least one pair of pants to go along with the other clothes that I ordered online.



6. Get my house in shape and get ready to enforce the chore chart with the kids.



7. Get a tan because as Beth Moore says, tan fat looks better than white fat and I'd rather go back to work looking like I did something this summer.

Take Out

Tonight I decided to pick up dinner from Popeye's. I don't go there often, so I had forgotten that pretty much every time I've been there, I've been amazed by how intelligent their employees are. For instance, take this brilliant exchange from one of the past times I've been there:

"Can I take your order?"
"Yes, I'd like a #5 meal with fries and a Dr. Pepper."
"You want a #5 meal?"
"Yes, with fries and a Dr. Pepper."
"What kind of side do you want with that?"
"Fries."
"And what kind of drink?"
"Dr. Pepper"....

This time when I ordered, there was a similar conversation over the drive thru speaker system where I again ordered a meal and had to repeat the side and drink orders. Then when I got up to the window, I asked what kind of sauces they had for the chicken strips I'd ordered. So the guy lists of the various options including "Mardi Gras Mustard". "What's that?", I asked. The guy says "Well I've never tried it, but seriously, it's not good". I laughed and asked him how he would know it's no good if he never tried it and he said "Well, it doesn't smell good".

Being a fan of some things that don't necessarily smell good, take parmesan cheese and cooking cabbage. So I decided to try "Mardi Gras Mustard" anyway. The guy at Popeye's looked at me like I was crazy as he handed it to me and I just had to smile. Personally I give the sauce, a sweet mustard mixed with horseradish, a big thumbs up.

A Cooking Blog

As if it's not going to be hard enough to keep up with one blog once I start back to work in one week, I've decided to start a blog for my favorite recipes. Cooking is one of my favorite things to do and I am often asked for my recipes, so I thought why not...

Here's the link to Suzanne's Favorite Recipes.

The Best Daddy

About a year and a half ago I wrote something I would describe as a childlike perspective of the Lord's Prayer. I have wanted to share it for a while, but sometimes I worry too much about what others will think of my writing. I wrote it right after I found out that my friend and counselor Jeanette had cancer. It was an extremely difficult time for me and I was learning to lean on God. Here is what I wrote:



Our Father

Hi Daddy!

Who art in heaven

Far away, but still near to me

Hallowed be your name

Best daddy in the whole world? No, wait. Best daddy in the universe? No…. best daddy EVER, best daddy POSSIBLE! Yeah! That’s it!

Your kingdom come

I want the world to be what you want the world to be! Really!

Your will be done

What can I do to help you? Pick me! Pick me!

On earth as it is in heaven

Can we make my place look just like your place? Please!?

Give us this day our daily bread

You’re the ONLY one who can give me what I need

Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors

I’m really sorry I hit my brother and I still love him even though he hit me first. He’s still my brother after all.

And lead us not into temptation

I trust you to remind me when I shouldn’t touch the hot stove or run out into the street

But deliver us from evil

And when you’re ready, I’m ready to come be with you forever.



Wow, I’m reminded by the fact that the last line of that didn’t come easy and the reason is that I struggled for so long to understand why God lets bad things happen to us. It's hard to understand when we feel like he doesn't deliver us from evil.



In a perfect world, we would all be able to compare our earthly fathers to our heavenly Father, but we live in a fallen world; a world where our earthly fathers are so NOT perfect. Sometimes our earthly fathers do horrible things, like in my case. I've shared a little about it in My Story.



I am so thankful to know that God is nothing like my earthly father. I'm so thankful that I can trust Him. I am so thankful that He cares for me. And mostly, I am so thankful that I am His child.

New Background

I've been looking at other people's oh so cute blogs and decided I'd try to fix mine up too. I got it at TheCutestBlogOnTheBlock.Com. So what do you think?

Lord, I'm Trying!

Proverbs 22:6 (New International Version)
Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

My son is driving me crazy lately! He's a pretty good kid overall. He makes good grades and doesn't get into trouble at school. I just wish I could get him to handle certain responsibilities better...like getting ready to go somewhere on time.

Both my teenagers have band camp this week and next week. This morning K woke T up to get ready and I woke him up again, but both times he went back to sleep. Then when K's friend showed up to take them to the school, he still wasn't up. So I told K she and her friend should leave and I would take him. Then I woke him up AGAIN and he went upstairs to get dressed(he'd been asleep on the couch.) I assumed that's what he was doing...till I called upstairs and realized he was back in bed again! Arghhh! So he ended up being late to band camp. I ended up lecturing him all the way there. And he seems not to care at all.....

School starts in a few weeks and I won't be able to take T to school unless he gets up really early. Otherwise he has to ride with K's friend. If he is going to ride with K and her friend, he will have to finish getting ready and get himself out of the door. He will have to do this without my prodding as I will already be at work. So I'm a little nervous about how this is going to go. Will I have to take off work to go take him to school if he misses riding with them (nope, can't do that every day and keep my job). Will I allow him to stay home for a day with serious consequences to deter that from happening again? Will I call the truant officer to go get him?

Feel free to make suggestions...

WARNING-Wear Gloves When Cutting Jalapenos!

I have been cutting up jalapenos for years and years and never had a problem. I had heard on the Food Network that you are supposed to wear gloves to cut them up, but since I hadn't experienced a problem without the gloves I just figured that my hands weren't that sensitive.

Then one day I cut up about 40 jalapenos to make Stuffed Jalapenos (yum!). That was about a year ago. I ended up being miserable for about two days. My hands were burning terribly and every other part of my body that I had touched before I realized what was going on, burned too....for TWO DAYS! I searched the internet for remedies and all I found were things like this.

During the two days of burning skin, I learned many things about jalapeno injury:

1. Wear gloves if you plan to cut up large amounts of jalapenos.

2. If you don't wear gloves and end up with burning skin, DO NOT scrub your hands with soap trying to get the jalapeno oils off. This only opens up tiny cracks in your skin and makes the burn worse.

3. If you are experiencing burn from jalapeno cutting, keep your hands away from all other body parts for at least two days!

4. There are no sure fire remedies for this problem as far as I can tell.

5. Editing to add this for those who will find this post looking for relief. Dipping my hands in corn starch seemed to help a little. Since corn starch soaks up oil maybe?

Since I am the slow to learn type, I figured that I had only ended up with burning skin the one time because of the amount of peppers involved. So tonight we had Sour Cream & Salsa Chicken (cooked in the slow cooker all day), Mexican Rice, and Calabacitas. Included in the ingredients of Calabacitas are, of course, jalapenos. There is only one jalapeno required for making this dish, so no problem, right?

Actually my cutting up the single jalapeno probably wouldn't have been an issue had I not decided to go swimming tonight. I never thought about it, but apparently being in the water and the skin softening up causes the oils to penetrate your skin and causes BURNING.

This time I learned:

1. Wear gloves when cutting even one jalapeno.

2. If you don't wear gloves, definitely DO NOT go swimming after cutting jalapenos.

Is It December Yet?

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...dreaming of Christmas time in general, mainly since I know it won't be 107 degrees then! We reached a record high today here in Big D. and it's not supposed to be any cooler tomorrow. It is however, supposed to be a chilly 99 degree high on Wednesday though.

Thankfully, with the pool back in order, I just jumped in and out to get cooled off at 11:00 at night so I won't be burning up all night.

God is good...All the time!

Bunco Night

Tonight we are playing bunco and it's our turn to host. This is what it looks like when you roll a bunco. We paint the 6s red because we are all old and half blind. Ahem, I mean so we can see them better because once you roll this, the other team can steal them from you for more points. I want to roll lots of these because the person who rolls the most of them by the end of the time we play wins $25.

And this is what a baby bunco looks like. It's also a baby bunco when you roll all 2s, 3s, 4s, or 5s. I'd like to roll bunches of these too as they are worth $15 to the person who rolls the most.

We have been part of a couples bunco group for over ten years now and we always have so much fun. I just like it better when it's not at my house, mostly because I'm not a great housekeeper. So today will be a work day. I wish I were one of those women whose homes look like a Better Homes and Gardens advertisement, but alas I am not...not by a long shot.

Actually, I should be cleaning now instead of blogging. In the past, I would've been frantically cleaning, terrified that someone was going to see how we really live, but the older, calmer, don'tcaresomuchthatyouseemyhouseisdirty me will blog instead (and then go frantically clean!).

Lord please help me not to scream, yell, rant, and so on...at my family today as we try to prepare our home for company. Unfortunately, by the time I actually got around to posting this I had already yelled at my husband...sorry honey. Lord please also keep my guests from seeing the inch thick dust that is on something I forgot about. Finally, thank you Lord for good friends and good fun!

Back to School Shopping

Tonight I'm resting my feet after several hours of shopping with my teenagers for school clothes. It went pretty well really. There were no knock-down-drag-out fights about things I wouldn't buy. I'm having a hard time understanding why almost everything item of clothing out there for teens has skulls on it, but thankfully neither of the kids pushed me on my general rule against skulls on clothing. It just seems creepy and dark to me.

T is more into fashion than my girls ever were. He'll be stylin' in black pin striped shorts (a little odd to me, but the kids say they're cool) and some green and blue plaid shorts. He got quite bored when it was K's turn to try on clothes, but at least the ladies' dressing room had comfy seats for us to sit and wait.

K found two pairs of pants she likes and a couple of shirts too and the shirts were only $2.99 each! How did I get that lucky!?! Finding clothes that K likes and getting a great deal at the same time...mama says YESSS!!

We still have quite a few more things to get before school gets started, but we made a dent in the list today!