3-Part Ramble: Math... Church... Chris!

I have had about 3 different blog ideas today so prepare for a modge-podge. : )

The first two go hand in hand in my mind, so let's see if you can make the connection:

Sometimes I hate my math brain and biblical interpretations...

Did you figure out the connection yet? No I'm not trying to do the math of dividing 5 loaves and 2 fish to fed a multitude!

Part 1

The first statement simply leads to the second statement. Tonight I went to church [which is unusually in that I went to a Wednesday evening service] but I deciding to go because I wanted to hear the pastor candidate again. [That topic in and of itself is a can of worms. Pastors come and candidate and then members vote as if they are watching So You Think You Can Dance?! based on a single performance.] Anyways tonight Dr./Pastor Charlie talked about the inspiration and interpretation of the Bible and he began his lesson with a question about boating. He asked how many people had been on a boat for 1000 miles and a few ex-military men raised their hands. Then he proceeded to talk about how if you began your 1000-mile journey just 5 degrees off, which everyone agreed didn't sound like much, that what didn't seem like a big deal would leave you 90 miles from your destination in the end. Which is kind of a big deal. I knew where he was leading at this point... that if we are a little off with our interpretation of the Word, it can make a BIG difference in the end. 

It was at that point that I stopped listening began multi-tasking. 

Seriously?! 90 miles of track?! That doesn't sound right. Is the porportion of degrees to 360 the same as 90 to 1000?! That doesn't seem right! Is my mental math that horrible? Am I becoming calculator dependent like too many of my students?! Oh man! This is going to kill me! I've got to figure this out!?

And so I did. I began my math on the back of an old bulletin. 5 over 360 equals x over 1000.

Cross multiply. Divide. Double check my math.

[I'm teaching this right now to some of my students ironically.]

x = 13.8 miles not 90.

And so I reworked the problem the other way...

90 over 1000 = x over 360

Cross multiply. Divide. Double check my math.

x = 32.4 degrees not 5.

Then I debated if I would nonchalantly shake his hand later and inform him of his mathematical error. It wouldn't be the first time that I corrected a Bible teacher over a math-related error, but I woud likely get the same response: "Oh really? Huh, I just heard it used before so I'm using it. Come up with a new example, okay?"

Oh, brain. : )

Part 2.

Another statement that Dr./Pastor Charlie stated was that 97% of the Bible is literal and only the wee-little bit rest is figurative. [I don't think he was saying this as a fact, but rather that the overwhelming majority is literal. That would take a lot longer than 5 minutes to check his math on!] This statement got me thinking that this is probably true and furthermore, the problem is that the 3% is interpretated 97 different ways and each person or denomination chooses a different 3% to consider figurative.

His example was from Romans: "But if your enemy is hungry, feed him and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so you will heap burning coals upon his head." [Romans 12.20] The second part of this is clearly not literal and I would venture to say that 100% of sane Christians would agree with that classification.

But what about these verses:

Do  you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. [1 Cor. 6.19]

Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags. [Prov. 23.20-21]

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. [Matt. 5.9]

Salute one another with an holy kiss. [Romans 16.16]

Now I realize that I was able to pick and choose what verses I wanted to list here and I'm not implying that I think one way or another about any of them, but what I am saying is that Christians, pastors,

EVERYONE!

picks and chooses what they want to say is literal and what is figurative.

I could list a hundred different times that I have heard about adultery, lying, cheating, drunkenness, cussing, and drugs from the pulpit, but do you know how many times I've heard a pastor preach on gluttony or even self-discipline such as excersing?!

Zilch.

We've got to stop picking and choosing verse by verse and simply pick and choose the Bible.

Okay, soap box over.

 Part 3:

Today in our staff meeting we were talking about various ways to incorporate technology into our classrooms and we had a few students present helpful websites. One of which was wordle.net which I haven't figured out how I am going to incorporate into geometry, but this was fun to make none the less. : )

A Legacy Left

A week ago Friday at 10:16am my mom called and I instantly knew there was something wrong. We had been previously texting as I didn't have school thanks to Ron Clark coming to speak to the Lima City Schools Staff.

I thought something may have happened to Grandma Clum because early that morning I received a text saying that she fell and broke her arm the night before. But it wasn't her that was the concern. It was Grandpa. As mom caught me up to speed with what was going on, I'll never forget what she said when I asked "So what's this all mean?!"

"I think your grandpa is dying as we speak..."

The staff meeting following was difficult to focus in as was the following few hours as I went back and forth whether I want to go to Greenville and weeping through the prognosis.

Fast-forward. It's 5:01 as Chris and I are pulling into the Wal-Mart parking lot to pick up Stuart and Sondra to watch for the evening and I get a call from my dad who I had not talked to all day as he was with his siblings and mom in Greenville.

"It's over..."

I tried to be strong as I could hear the hurt and sorrow in his voice.

There is so much that can be said to convey the emotions and thoughts as the Clum family tried to process the unexpected loss of Grandpa, but what more can be said is about the funeral services.

All of my family was able to be together as we mourn our loss, but celebrated the life of Grandpa. There were stories I had never heard before and ones I'll never forget. Grandpa was a hard worker. Grandpa was a providing father, loving husband, and supportive grandpa. He was proud of the family he had and even on the Sunday before his death, we were at Aunt Jane's for a cook out to meet one of the newest additions to the Clum family and we was enjoying ever minute of being around the ones he loved.

Grandpa may be gone from this earth, but his legacy certainly is not. It lives in his wife, his children, his grandchildren, and even in his great-grandchildren.

Mom commented on my Facebook status one day, and I don't think anyone could have said it better: "There are no words to describe the journey the 52 of us have started. The comfort lies in that there is strength in numbers and we are 52 plus strong."

I am so thankful that my photographer captured this candid from my wedding.
It is certainly a picture that is cherished even more now.

500 [+ 2]

Monday marked day 500 of being married to Mister Christopher and so as I knew this day was approaching, I wanted to do something special for him. (Because as much as I don't like to admit it, the busyness of teaching and coaching sometimes quenches my creative juices and I don't love him as creatively well as I would like. Confession over.]


So as I thought and thought and thought some more about what I could do, I thought that I could make a list of 500 things I loved/appreciated/respected about him. That seemed like a great idea until I remembered how long it took me to write 100 things about him before for a gift. [Of course it took so long to actually write, it wasn't that I couldn't come up with that many things.] So I went back to thinking and this is what I came up with...


I took post-it notes and wrote '500' or in some cases '5<3<3' I even did this in bed with Chris laying right next to me. And when he asked what I was up to, 'Oh just working on stuff for tomorrow'. There's a benefit of being a teacher, I am always working on something odd so writing on post-it notes seemed normal. [And notice I didn't lie either!] The next morning I got up early didn't oversleep so that I had enough time to shower and attack the house with post-it notes... on the light switches... on the fan... on the toilet seat... on the roll of tp... on Chris' phone... on the walls... on the front door... on the fridge... in the fridge... on his car... in his work shoes... in order-taking folder... on the table... and just about anywhere else you can think of, I put them. 


I gave him his g'bye-have-a-good-day kiss and giggled as I walked out the door. In my 7 minute drive to school I also successful logged into both of our Facebook accounts and changed our statuses and wrote on each other's walls '500!'. At 8:53am I received a text 'The post it monster stopped by last night!' To which I laughed and replied 'What?!' This was similar to the Olive Garden monster breaking in and covering our fridge with OG magnets one night. 


On my way home from school I counted out 499 red Swedish fish in a big fish bowl and put one larger yellow Swedish fish in the mix and accompanied it with a fish card that said, "There may be 500 fish in the sea, but you are the only one who was created just for me!" :) The delicious fish were waiting for him when he returned from work. 


While I loved doing these two simple things for him, that was not my most favorite part of the day. My favorite part? When I got to listen to Chris grin and tell me how he told his co-workers about the post-its and how some even made comments that you don't hear stories like that everyday. Chris felt special and loved and that's imperative so I was thankful that I took the small amount of time to do something for him. 


Sometimes I wonder how couples don't take time to show each other that they love each other. Don't get me wrong, I still cherish hearing him say "I love you!" for 788 days [the number of days since our engagement when we said I love you for the first time] but sometimes I need to be reminded of it in a different way... and so does he.


Second favorite part of the day: Receiving a text message from Chris while I was at my volleyball game...

*1436* is Chris and my "shmily" [to read what that is visit my friend's blog]. 1436 represents the number of letters of each word in: I love you muchly! I found it encouraging that a couple that persevered and loved so well for so long had such a neat story and every day we are continuing in our own story. 

I hope that when we are old and wrinkly, and everyday that leads to that day, that we continue to love each other well so that others are encouraged that a true love can persevere! 

A Couple More Stockers

For my own 'records' I'm going to try to keep up on my purchases on here as well. So here's a couple since that I didn't include before.

September 18th:
Spent:     $1.26          Saved:     $10.98         Number of Items: 2          Saved: 90%
     This was just on toilet paper. :)

September 20th:

Spent:     $7.13          Saved:     $37.09         Number of Items: 22        Saved: 84%

September 22nd:

Spent:     $9.85          Saved:     $35.29         Number of Items: 16         Saved: 78%

I realize that the dates look like I live at Meijer, but don't worry, I don't. I could combine these purchases, but sometimes it's an excuse to get out of the house : ) [or they are out of something and it wasn't until tonight that I thought, 'Duh Rachel! Raincheck!' :) ]

Shopping

Within the last couple of months [actually it was on August 11th that I Facebook-declared myself as a crazy couponer], I have been couponing. It is so. much. fun!

For one I actually pay attention to how much things cost. Before "good deals" were simply based on how much something costs today compared the the full price tag under that little yellow attention grabber. I had no idea what the usual cost was of items. Now I see shoppers going crazy with $ .50 off sales and shake my head and smile because I know that 1/2 the time it's usually $1 off.

Also I am not so drawn to those little yellow tags. I know that if I don't really need it, and it's not a really good deal, it's not worth it! I actually say No!  to a sale! *gasp* :)

There are a lot of things that I have learned by couponing and the best part is that we save SO much money!

Since my receipts were laying around, I figured I should figure out exactly how much we have been saving! So here's the breakdown:

August 28th:
Spent:     $67.59          Saved:      $96.05         Number of Items: 66         Saved: 59%

September 1:
Spent:     $4.08            Saved:      $34.54         Number of Items: 14          Saved: 89%

September 17th:

Spent:     $53.03          Saved:      $61.86         Number of Items: 43         Saved: 53%

September 18th:

Spent:     $44.44          Saved:      $95.11         Number of Items: 56         Saved: 68%

We'll see if this continues, but for today's shopping below is a pic of what all I purchased. 

Not pictured: 10 lb. bag of potatoes and a case of water. Pictured: More than a cupboard full!

How can it not be fun to bring that much home and know that you saved as much as you did!

Anyways, off for some more shopping...not grocery shopping :) baby shower shopping!

Mobile blogger, eh?

Finally. *sigh*

Over the course of the past 3 months I have started a post in my mind countless times. I have a thought, experience or conversation that results in "I should write about that" running through my mind. On one occasion I even spent 45 minutes writing a post that never was published because it was never saved. [That's what happens when I'd rather spend time with my husband that on the computer and my computer has a janky battery that dies. Drats!]

Despite all that, an update that encompasses most of the "blog ideas" I failed to type is finally here.

Tomorrow marks the end of week 3 [3 weeks?! Already?! Holy cow!] at Lima Senior. Each week has only been a 4 day week for the students, but I don't think the transition next week to a full 5-day week won't be much different. So the question that lingers, 'How is it?!' And my response to that 'Great!' After doing my student teaching there, I knew I wanted to be on staff full time, but the past 3 weeks has truly exceeded my expectations. So far [*knock on wood*] it has been easier and better than my student teaching experience--which is a pretty big statement.

Reasons why Lima Senior Progressive Academy has my heart:

-No Barbies There: There are "fakes" in every community, but when it comes to my students it's hard to find one. They share what they think. They aren't there to impress me. And if they want something known, they say it. I love this about my students! Some of the conversations that I have the privilege of sharing with my students are ones that could have with students else where and the story is the same, but they are conversations that other students shy away from for one reason or another. This leads to an additional reason PA has my heart...

-You Learn Something New Everyday: Of course I hope that my students are learning something new everyday that has to do with mathematics, but I learn something new everyday as well. This too comes from the students. Many of their lives are so, so much different from my white picket fence upbringing [which I am of course very thankful for for countless reasons] so I can learn so much from them. I hope that they are learning something about life from me as well. But I know that all I can do is live a worthy life and live an open life to absorb as much as I can from others. Some of my students' life stories are ones that I couldn't have imagined and to learn and be encouraged by them is rewarding.

-Living Life on Purpose: We all like to have purpose, I am not special in that, but one thing that I have recognized [although it has been true as long as I can remember I just didn't know it] is that I like to be needed. Call it prideful if you'd like, but regardless I like to feel needed. [Flashback: This was even true when I was in late elementary/early junior high when I would be babysitting either with the parent still there or on my own and if the baby would begin to fall asleep I would do something to keep that babe awake... take away the pacifier, uncover to make chilly, play with their feet, etc. Of course it was nothing that was harmful and I have grown out of this so momma's don't worry about me being near your children! But I would do this because I needed to feel needed by that baby.] So another reason I am PA is because I feel like I am needed for a purpose there, which is twofold. Students need to learn math and understand it in a way that they can apply it outside the fours walls of my classroom but the other fold is personally. I have had 3 students who have chatted with me in a way that I know they have talked with other teachers [I know this because they tell me so ;)]. Some conversations are light-hearted and others more serious, but the great part is that they happen!

Of course I want to be known as a teacher who teaches her content, but on some levels, more importantly I want to be known as a teacher who truly cares for her students. I'm working on it!

*Within the next week [I work better with deadlines] I will retype and post the post I can nearly finished when my computer died. You can loosely hold me to that! ;) *

Urge

I feel a great urge to blog, but I am not sure what about...

So here are some thoughts...

...I'm ready to be in our house. Stopping by once a day to get the mail, and usually use the potty just isn't cutting it. Only a couple more days though.

...I want to learn how to cook. Like real well. I get urges to buy lots of cook books and search recipes online to try, but I'm a pretty big chicken when it comes to adventures with cooking. Chris will help with pushing this I am sure.

...It's weird that everyone is packing up and moving out and there is all the hustle and bustle on campus. I am so out of the loop, even though I feel as if my job requires me to 'be' the loop.

...In 3ish days I will be moving off of Bluffton campus forever. After being here for 5 years--that's nearly 22% of my life-- I will both miss and be so thankful to no longer live in a dorm. I'll miss some aspects of Res Life aka the staff as well, but definitely will not miss being woken in the middle of the night or having a [mostly self imposed] curfew.

...I still have quite a bit to pack up into our adult diaper boxes--thanks mom for working at a nursing home-- but it seems like now there isn't theme to anything left to back. When we get to the house and open these boxes we'll find books with yarn with sweatshirts with spoons. I guess it'll make for more of a game as we look for things as we settle.

...My aunts and uncles had some serious loot to share with us as we take a hodge-podge and make it mesh. It was/is greatly appreciated! And quite fun Saturday!

...I already want/have invited others over. Then I remember that our furniture is on layaway. We make do. :)

...I really enjoy subbing. Not only do I get to learn more about different classrooms/teachers/schools, but in some cases I am left with lots of "free time" as students work independently. This free time equates to reading time. "Freakonomics" was absolutely fascinating! And I enjoyed reading the entire modern version of "Romeo and Juliet" Friday. There were details I didn't recall that makes the story make more sense now. Fancy how those details make a difference.

...I had a mini-final hoo-rah with my BASIC group and was told a joke. The joke teller warned that it was a bit inappropriate--1 bad word-- but "since we're graduating" she told us anyways. So here's the joke for you and you MUST read it in a Southern accent even if you are only reading it in your head! Here's the joke:

There were these 2 Southern women--hence the accent-- and the one Southern woman said, "Wh-ell for my first anniversary, my husband bought me a ruby red ring!

Second woman a bit disgusted, "Mmhmm."

"Wh-ell for my 2nd anniversary, my husband bought my a brand new car!"

Second woman disgusted, "Mmhmm."

"Wh-ell for my 3rd anniversary, my husband bought me a brand new house."

Second woman, "Mmhmm." "Well, what did your husband get you!?!"

"Speech lessons."

"Speech lessons?!"

"Yep, I used to say f-you, but now I just say 'mmhmm'."

: )

I'll just leave you with that.

Unexplainable

This is a delayed story, but one I doubt I'll soon forget.

On Saturday, April 10th after mistakeningly showing up for a 2 year-old birthday bash a day early, Chris & I were headed to visit Josh & Leslie for his [not 2nd] birthday. I was driving and Chris was working in. Sign carving and we entered Indiana heading towards Fort Wayne on 30 before shooting north. Just a little bit after crossing the border, we saw a car parked on the side of the road. Flat black, hood up, no hazard lights. Then a bit further there was a man walking. Common sense told me these two: the man and the car went together.

As I continued to drive, thinking out loud about the man, how far he would have to walk to get to even a house on this highway, and that it *must* be a dead battery because why else wouldn't his hazards be on?! I wondered if we should turn around. I mean it would be REALLY far until a road he could walk down off 30 and even farther to a house that someone would hopefully be willing to help him. Chris seemed to play with the idea for a moment then went back to carving. I couldn't dismiss the situation and was thankful whem Chris finally asked me what I wanted to do...

Turn around.

And so we did. Mind you only a few minutes passed, if that, before we decided to turn around. As I pulled a legal u-y, Chris rearranged our bags in the back seat for a soon-to-be guest and we both confided in the other that we were a little scared/nervous/apprehensive about stopping as neither of us had done this before. [That is if you don't count the time Dani and I stopped for a guy who needed to borrow a cell. We got quite the lecture from her momma who was right behind us. Rightfully so, two senior girls probably shouldn't stop.]

So I drove back towards the Ohio border keeping my eye out for the walking man and the next place I could pull another u-y. I saw places to pull my u-y, but no man. I continued to split my vision on the road ahead and the other lane's ditch but we did not see him, or his car. Our thoughts that there was no way that we drove that far past the man was confirmed when we hit the Ohio border again. I turned around at the border [again] and was baffled as we retracked our treads once again and still no car and no man.

Now if only the man was gone, that would make sense as someone else could have slowed down before we got back and picked him up. But for both the car and the man to be gone it just didn't make sense. We didn't pass a tow truck, the man wouldn't have had time to turn around and get back to his car if someone had stopped to "fix" his car, and on top of that we didn't pass his car on the highway. It just didn't add up.

I was a bit freaked out to say the least and Chris informed me that he too would have been but he wasn't allowing himself to.

Chris wondered if someone somehow helped him before we got back. I wondered if it was a test if we were really *willing* to be a good Samaritan. We both wonder if we will ever know.

Subbing Week 1-2

I just completed Week 2 of substitute teaching and boy had it been interesting. I find it quite fascinatiing how vastly different 4 grades in 4 schools in the same school district can be. Now don't get me wrong, it doesn't take a 4 [and a 1/2] year degree to tell me that there's a difference between preschool and high school math but it's amazing how the overall attitudes of the buildings were SO different!

In order to recap, and preserve possible futurely forgotten memories, here's a glimpse into the past two weeks of my life:

Preschool: What a FUN group of 3.5-6 year olds that I got to spend 3 days with. Of course it was 100% fun 100% of the time, but overall a great experience. Think glorified babysitter who asks intentional questions. I loved befriending them and getting to know their cute lil' personalities even the quirks. And I'm pretty sure they enjoyed befriending me as well. :-)

At the end of the 3 days, I was informed that R was my boyfriend [and his little friend M dared him to hug me, but he was quite timid], but K was moving in and gave me LOTS of hugs and draw me a picture that 'says' 'We like to give each other hugs!' I'm not sure about K, but at least with R I know I'll be provided for. He has his own 'pimpin Cadealac' and motorcyle, he just let's his parents borrow then. Pretty established Gor a 5-year-old!

Then there was the declaration at recess time that I was the best swing pusher because 'Miss Rachel makes us go high!'

And who can forget sweet, adorable A who proudly informed me that she could finally write her 's'? I scurried over to see her accomplishment but arrived to a page full of backward s-es. :-( I didn't have the heart to tell her they were all wrong do instead I continued to practice with her. She'll get it, I'm sure!
In addition to the million dollar smiles and stories the younguns shared during play time, watching particular children come alive was so rewarding! One little boy, A, was very quiet and to himself most of the 3 days I was there, but on the last day something changed a bit and he opened up in a backwards 4-year-old way. He approached me for the 1st time at playtime [which was VERY out of the ordinary] and then upon going outside he laughed and giggled as he swung higher and higher and I dodged his kicking legs and informed him that he was indeed the best swinger on the playground. [In return he showed me how if your legs get tired you can just use your neck to make yourself continue swinging. Like a turtle sticks his head in and out of its shell]. Before lining up to go home A presented me with a strip of paper that I can 'take on walks to know which way to go'. I'm not exactly sure how my navigating tool works, but in this case it's definitely the fought [and remembering his quirky smile] that counts!
On a different note, when a boy with a variety of 'setbacks' is told to do something he doesn't want to, it is important to remember to try you best to neither smile nor gag when he turns around sticks his butt at you and let's one rip. The smell will shortly pass and depriving him of his ill-sought attention is the best option, even of it stunk REALLY badly. Trust me on this one. :-)
4th Grade: This was my biggest challenge thus far [I know, I know it's early in the game yet]. Lesson #1 Just because a student is an angel and a common go to girl for the regular teacher, doesn't mean she'll behave for you. Actually she may end up being your biggest headache. :S Overall this experience was quite eye-opening. I was submerged in a school very different from my previous elementary experience and had to adapt to a class structured and disciplined even more differently than how I would choose to handle matters. If nothing else, in 4 days this classroom taught me the importance and necessity of being on my toes and establishing clear expectations while allowing 4th graders to still be 4th graders. What a balance!

And some 4th grade thoughts/wisdom for your reading pleasure:
Students of this age have no concept of age, at least I hope that is the case! On Day 1 of subbing I was asked 'Were you once a real teacher and then you retired and now your a sub?' When I startledly asked T if she thought I was old enough to do such, she explained that Mr. Z retired and he wasn't very old... He was only like 45! Nervous she thought I too was 45, I asked how old she thought I was: 'Oh about 20-something.' Whew!!

Another day at lunchtime I was asking a boy how his lunch was [tgey were having 'hamburgers' on this day]. Be said they weren't bad but nothing compared to his dad's 'Fartburgers' and I should come over sometime to try them. Thinking--or hoping rather-- that I misheard him I asked him to repeat himself. To which I got the explanation, 'You know, fartburgers! He mixes stuff with the hamburger and if you eat just one of those you'll be able to fart all night long! It's awesome!!' I reassured him that I was confident that Chris wouldn't appreciate that but thanks for the offer. Oh 4th grade boys!

Speaking of 4th grade boys, I think I've encountered 2 of the sweetest with subbing! N and S were not only sweet, but adorable as well! N was willing to help wherever needed and was very knowledgeable about the runnings of not only the classroom, but of the whole school. He told me he could run the place and I am sure he could! He just may need a booster seat so he could clearly see over the big desks in the office and people could see his little 9 year old stature. In addition to constant willingness to answer my questions and help other students, he only asked me ONCE for anything. 'Ms. Massie can you put my earring back in?!' Of course! :-)

The other cutie I wanted to fold up and put in my pocket was S. He was cute and I'm pretty sure he knew it, although his was quite innocent as well. One day early on he was out of his seat and just as I was about to remind him that his tush was for sitting on he gave me a hug and sat back down. :-) Another time I wanted to correct him but instead what came out of my mouth was 'You're lucky you're cute!' His big ol' smile brighten each morning!

My final 4th grade story is aout my name. 11 months ago when I married my best friend I thought my name would be messed up LESS than before: Klum, Plum, etc. This isn't quite the case, but that's another story. This story: After school one day T, the same girl who asked if I was once a real teacher then retired and now found myself subbing, was drawing on the board and asked how to spell my name. M-A-SS-I-E. I turn from my desk to see what she wrote and saw 'Mrs. Massive' written on the board [an honest mistake, not a cruel 4th grader]. I quickly corrected her and jokingly discussed how horrible it'd be to have that name. End of conversation. That night when I went through a stack of drawings from the students and saw one that made me laugh: To: Mrs. Massive *big heart* From: T' :-D At least the drawing was created before I corrected her.

Until next time, with more stories or more musings...

Finally a post...

So it has been over a year since I have updated on here, but when I created the blog the only promise I made was that I wouldn't make any promises about keeping it updated. So I guess I held true to that promise at least, right?! :) Anyways since it's been so long there's lots of updating that could be done, but I'd rather just jump into this and start with what's fresher on my mind: My husband is great. And that's not an April Fool's Joke either! ;)

I know a lot of people would agree that his/her significant other is great and w

onderful, and I believe them because they likely are, but in the last 24 h

ours when I think about Chris' greatness it's because of a lack of my own. Here's the little story:

Yesterday was a b-e-a-utiful day out so I was looking forward to Chris' lunch shift to be over so we could enjoy some tennis, our latest hobby. As C

hris neared Bluffton, I left the baseball game to meet him at the apartment to grab our tennis gear and we headed to the courts. Now I am the one who [nearly] always wants to play tennis. It's my current outside game of choice and so naturally I both look forward to it as well as talk s

ome smack leading up to it. We get out there and play the first game [we have our own modified rules because we don't know the real ones so a 'game' to us is to 21 and you have to win by 2] and of course Chris won. No surprise there, he usually does. This time though, not only did he win, but I also

felt as I sucked quite a bit. So it was time for game #2.

Game #2 started and about halfway through after I had thrown my racket and began tearing up, I stormed quickly walked off and declared 'I'm done!'. Chris chased the tennis ball that I hit as hard as I could in the opposite direction and then followed me back to the apartment at a [safe] distance. I didn't want to be talked to, I didn't want to be touched. I put my tennis stuff away, got a glass of agua, sat on the couch and flipped on the boob tube. Chris quietly sits next

to me and asked if I felt [physically] okay, then when I finished my glass of ice water, he offered to get me another. After a few more moments of my silence, I blurted out, 'WHY are you SO nice?!'

He put on a smile-smirk and responded, 'Because you aren't mad all the time.' And he's right, I am not mad all the time or even close, but I was being an awful big baby at the time.

This is just one thing that makes him so great, and while it's not an excuse for me to act irrationally, it commonly shows through when I do. I didn't quit playing tennis because I was physically hurt or was experiencing the side effects of the placebo pills, although the latter was true, I quit because I was mad. I was mad that I was the one who wanted to play tennis, yet I was the one who was getting my butt handed to me on a silver platter racquet. I had no excuse, but he loved me well through it.

Oh, and after supper we went out and played 3 more games of tennis. I lost, but the racquet never slid across the court and it was much more enjoyable for all!