Not lost, just vacationing

Heather's hounding me, and, even though she may be the only one who's realized that I've been missing, I'm posting now to let y'all know I'm still alive.

After much hemming and hawing, I decided to take a personal day today and head down to my parents' place on the Gulf in Destin. It's funny: I drove down here SO MUCH last year to visit Cal, and I never thought a thing of it. Last night, though? I thought the 5 hours in the car would never end.

I've got a stressful class this year, and I needed to get away. My plan of sleeping and reading and doing a whole lot of nothing, though, has been somewhat thwarted by my mother's ambitious attempt to fully and completely redecorate the condo in two weeks time. She warned me of this before I came, so no hard feelings. And she's been great about leaving me alone to do my own thing.

This week, they're painting the whole place (upstairs and down), putting in a chair rail, and measuring for new tiles. Next week is carpeting.

In the meantime, while workers are everywhere, Mom is painting trashcans/lamps/sculptures, cleaning artwork/frames, and applying Scotchguard to anything and everything she can find. It's okay, though; the only thing I've been recruited for so far has been to paint a little orange crab that no longer matched the red, yellow, and turquoise decor of the family room. Now he's orange and red and yellow.

The weather here is not optimal for beaching, but that's okay, too. There's been a report of a tornado touchdown in Panama City, a mere 30 miles east of here. The waves, usually nonexistent in the calm Gulf waters, are ripe for surfing, except for the occasional lightning, of course.

Another interesting facet of this whole vacation is that --after our first year of living 320 miles apart-- it's mine and Cal's first weekend without each other since he moved to Macon in early July. Scratch that, it's our first DAY without each other since he moved to Macon. As nice as it's been having him around, I think it was time (if not well past time) for both of us to reassert our independence for a few days. I told him not to enjoy my absence too much, but the gleam in his eye as he said he'd miss me told me that he was looking forward to my vacation as much as I was. And as long as he at least pretends like he was miserable during my time away, I couldn't care less!

So here I am, and here I'll stay until Sunday. I might go eat sushi tonight. I might go to the outlet mall tomorrow. I might go see some of Cal's old friends in Ft. Walton. Then again? I might do absolutely nothing, and enjoy every minute of it.

!!!

Elizabeth is in Hawaii during all this stuff!! She's visiting a friend who's working near Honolulu temporarily as a traveling nurse. I just spoke with Elizabeth's mom, and she said that they've talked to her and she's fine; they're out of power and have no food and all the stores are closed, though. How crazy!

She's at the beginning of her week-long vacation, so maybe things will calm down soon and she'll be able to enjoy it. What luck, huh?

The school-year's first milestone:

Having the "You might want to get your mamas to buy you deodorant" talk after the Homecoming pep rally. My room smells RANK.

The Latest 6th Grade Drama (and the last of three posts today)

I might be about to lose my job.

Yesterday, with 15 minutes left in 7th period, a parent walked into my Bible class in order to have an impromptu meeting about her son's English grade. Despite my best efforts to get her to come back at a more appropriate time, she stays throughout the rest of the period, taking my attention away from my class.

By the end of that 15 minutes, two of my students had managed to stick a paper clip into an electrical outlet, shocking themselves and leaving a black stain on the wall from the sparks that flew. My outlets are all blown. I have no clock, no overhead, no lamp to warm up my stark, sterile classroom.

5 minutes later I was telling my principal about it when the Dean of Discipline walks by and says, "Hey, I hear you had a fire in your room this afternoon." 20 minutes later, as I walk in Cal's classroom, a high school student that I've never even seen before asks if I'm Miss Terry, then says that he heard about the fire during 7th period.

My room has become a museum of sorts, with students of all ages stopping by at the door throughout the day to see the scene of the crime. "Which outlet was it?" a particular student will whisper to another, who promptly and gravely points to the black one across the room. They then leave, only to be replaced by another set of curious sightseers.

Ahh, the joys of teaching in a private school. I'm waiting for the parent phone calls to start.

Photo update

I realized the other day that I haven't updated any pictures since May. I know y'all have missed it, haha. Anyway, just thought I'd share a few, mostly of the newest addition to the Terry family:

My adorable neice Anna Claire... Go Dawgs!
The Vikings' newest baseball coach and me
Sweet Dad and his granddaughter
On the floor at Cal's house for Beth's Macon Birthday Weekend

Amy and Matt's dog, Indy, Anna Claire, and me.
Anna Claire tries to bite Cal

I'm obsessed with the map.

Okay. Dying of curiosity over here. Why in the world am I a hit in the South Pacific? It's looking like not only Malaysia/Indonesia/Singapore? now, but also the Philippines, nearest I can tell. Not to mention my American/Canadian(?) friends.

Any of you lurkers wanna speak up?

Attention grabber

This was my sophomore-year college roommate. Her fiance (now husband), Erik, lived with the guy that I was dating, and they were the couple with whom we always double-dated.

Seemingly-senseless things like this come as a shock to us when we are so young and feel so invincible. They remind us of life's brevity, and how, even in sadness, we can look forward to a perfect eternity where death and mourning will be no more.

Please pray for her husband, and that he will be able to trust in God's sovereignty even in this! He is left now with a 1-year-old daughter to raise by himself. Last I heard, he was working as a youth minister at a church in Dacula.