Fried Squirrel and other Southern delights

After talking to some students in the school I work in I have been told that people here like to hunt their own squirrel and then they fry them up into tasty treats. I asked one kid what it tasted like...he thought it had it's own distinct taste but one girl said it tasted like deer meat! In another class a kid was passsing around a zip lock back of grilled rabbit. I've seen kids share food...like a bag of chips or some cookies...but rabbit...this was a first. I am definitely a city girl living in the country...but it's fun finding these things out!

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me A Match!

Joel was talking to his friend from college yesterday. His poor friend dated this girl for a few years...bought an engagement ring and the day before Valentine's Day she broke up with him for another guy and is now engaged to the other guy. He is so depressed and brokenhearted. My natural response is to go into yenta-mode and fix him up with someone.

It got me thinking. I have so many super cool friends who are single and Joel has nice (somewhat dorky) friends who are also single, but younger. I tried to rack my brain and decide who might be compatible, but it seemed like quite a hard task. I remember when I was single it was hard to meet guys my age and although it took some convincing at first I was more open to people setting me up...hence how I met and fell in love with Joel.

My good friend from high school is my age and is single. Last summer she finally decided that she should try E Harmony. She filled out the lengthy personality (compatibility) form and was in complete shock when in essence she was denied. We both couldn't believe that she was denied from E Harmony! (She is such an awesome girl and obviously a dumb computer test can't figure that out).

This makes me want to start my own Yenta Website. Where I get a group of people who has friends, family, co-workers etc, who are single...and I put them all on this website where they can meet and have at it. I wouldn't even be doing the matchmaking per se...I would just provide the opportunity for people to meet.
Hey..ya never know...it could be a success. I definitely wouldn't have thought that I would have met someone in Connecticut (through our parents setting us up), have a long distant relationship, and then move to Mississippi of all places, but it's the best thing that ever happened to me.
Plus it would be really cool to be an actual yenta!

Traditions

Joelie and I went to a wedding last weekend in Connecticut. Joel was a groomsmen and he looked so cute in his tux. I realized throughout the night how there are some wedding traditions that I despise. This is the story about the one I despise the most;
The bride and groom were dancing their first dance when the DJ invited the wedding party to come to the dane floor to dance with the new couple. I watched as this petite pretty little blonde in her perfect fitting bridesmaid dress ran up to my husband in a heartbeat and started dancing with him. As I am watching my sister in law is explaining how she hates this tradition and how awkward it is for most people involved. Well let me tell you, this girl didn't feel awkward at all. She was twirling herself and shaking her hips...and I thought...my god...you are dancing with a married man...can you cut us some slack? As I continued watching, my heart sank into my stomach and I decided I despise this tradition...it is awkward watching another chick dance with my husband. It was just as awkward when I was single and I had to dance with married men...or weird single men who people were usually trying to set me up with. Either way...I DON'T LIKE IT!

Later on everyone was mentioning how that bridemaid was totally hitting on Joel. At first I thought that maybe it was my jealousy that was making me analyze every move she made...but it was confirmed by quite a few people. The happy ending to the story is that Joel felt so super awkward that he switched out and started dancing with his male cousin, Cord, who was also a groomsmen and they made a big silly dance out of it.

One more thing and my ranting will be over. If I was single and I was dancing with a married man I would dance as simplistic as I could out of respect for the man and his wife (who is most likely watching). I can't believe that girl (who definitely without a doubt knew that we were married)had no problem shaking her booty and hitting on a married man. In her defense...I think she had a few too many beers in her but still...no excuse!

Okay...done ranting now! :)

The Good ol' State of Mississippi

Missippi has the most number of strokes and heart attacks in the nation..the highest obesity rate...the highest teen pregnancy rate...the worst educational system in America...BUT on the positive side, Missippi produces the most famous people per capita...who knew? Famous people like Oprah, Morgan Freeman, Brett Favre, Three Doors Down, Lee Ann Rymes and many many more are from Mississippi!

My List

I am in a book club and we read a book called "The Next Thing on My List". It was an easy read about a woman who was driving a person who she had just met home...they got into a car accident and the passenger died. The woman found a list that belonged to the passenger and decided to finish the things on the list in her honor. The things on the list were things like run a 5K, dare to go braless, try boogie boarding along with seventeen other goals on her list.

This book has inspired me to make a list. I haven't actually written out an entire list yet..but my first idea so far, is to learn a belly dance and perform it for my hubby. I got a practice dvd for my birthday, so I am hoping I will be able to learn it...but I am not that coordinated...so wish me luck.

As I think of new things on my list...and I complete them, I will be sure to let y'all know!

Accents

I went to Subway a few weeks ago and ordered my sandwich. Not even five words later the Subway worker asked me if I was from Minnesota. I was so surprised that in just a few words..she was able to detect an accent and was able to pinpoint it to the exact state. Wow! I definitely think I am going to have the most unique accent ever..a mixture of NY, MN, and southern belle accents. Oy Vay! Oofta!
Bye Y'all I'm fixin' to go to bed! :)

Hotel Horror Stories

11:00 PM- Joel and I just drove six hours on our way to Texas. We had a late start and were ready to call it night. We pulled up to the nearest hotels in the GPS and pulled into the first hotel... the Red Carpet Inn. We walk in...pay $55 dollars...and make our way to our room.

11:15ish- Got the pj's on...pulled down the covers...Eeeek! All I see is three pieces of hair (that does not belong to either of us) and a small brown thingy that looked like it could be anything from feces to moist belly button lint. Packed our bags...made our way to the front desk...was told we couldn't get a refund but could get another room. We had no choice and took the offer. We made our way to our new room....checked every inch of the sheets...put the AC on and got into bed.

I laid there...thinking about the dirty sheets and feeling totally grossed out. Joel was so tired he was in and out of slumber...the AC started to make this high pitched sound. I tried to ignore it...then Chugga Chugga Choo Choo...it felt like the train went through our room it was so close. I knew at this point that there was no way on God's green earth that I would be able to fall asleep. Joel agreed, and we made our way back to the front office...she finally gave us our refund.

12:15ish...we start driving and figured we would stop at the first Hotel we see (that we have actually heard of before unlike the Red Carpet Inn). I see a big sign for $49.99 at Days Inn...so we make our way there...it was a room with two beds but we were so tired at that point that it didn't matter. Finally...we park the car...get out all our luggage once again and locate our room. Joel opens our room with a key card...he back up freaked out...I peek in and see two people sleeping in each of our beds...we close the door as fast as we could trying to figure out if we had made a mistake...but we were at the right room...and we obviously had the right key..but it was already occupied. So with our luggage we schlep to the front office in the rain...explain the situation...and we get another room!

1:00 AM- Ahhh....finally...two hours later and we have a place to rest!

My Summer in a Nutshell

There were very boring lonely parts of my summer... but as I reminisced about the last few months I realized that I did a lot and I had a lot of fun.

June- I went to Minnesota for a week. I hung out with all my buddies and went to a wedding in WI. Then I flew to NY/CT and hung out with Jessie (my sister) and her family. My brother was there as well. We had a blast...but it was super sad when I had to say goodbye to Jessie, Rob, Sidon, Adia, Roan, and Tidus. I am going to miss them a lot...I am hoping to save up money so I can visit them in Jordan within the next year!

July- I went to Texas for a week and hung out with my cousins and aunt. We had so much fun. We basically went to every thrift store in a 25 mile radius and I bought a whole new wardrobe for super-dee-dooper-dee cheap! Just an FYI...Texas is waaaay more hot than Missisippi...woooweee...I thought I was going to melt!

August- I went to Connecticut to celebrate Joel's mom's 50th birthday! I was a grump because I was not feeling well at all the entire time. We went to his mom's camp...it was nice but I was surprised at how super cold it was for August. I flew back on a Sunday..went to the ER (cause I had a bladder infection)..and the next morning had to wake up at 5:15 to start my new job. I've been working and enjoying it ever since.

So there's my summer in a nutshell...I am happy that I am blessed to be able to travel so much so that I can see all the people who are special to me...I am a lucky/blessed girl!

Telephone

We've all played the game telephone at some point in our lives; where one person whispers a message in the ear of the person next to them...who does the same and down the line the message goes getting twisted and turned all the while. I've played the game before but never until now did I really experience it happen in real life.

I was talking to a friend from New York. She said "I heard your sister and her family had to come back from Jordan because your bro-in law's father is very ill" and "they might not be able to get back into the country for some reason and may have to move back to the states". Half of me was mad that Jessica, my sister, might actually be in the states but I heard it through a friend who heard it from a friend who was a former roommate of my bro-in-law's sister...instead of from my own family telling me. Then another part of was thinking this can't be true, but how in the heck can a story get so far from reality?

I called my parents, I emailed my sister (instead of calling, because it is seven hours later in Jordan) and lastly I emailed my bro-in-laws sister. It turns out the only part of the story that is true is that my bro-in-laws dad is sick...but where did the rest of the story come from? Here I was getting all worried that my sister and her family wouldn't be allowed to move back to Jordan when they know that it is their life goal to do so...and then part of me is thinking...Yeeha my sister will at least be in the same country as me...and all these feelings well up in me...and somehow it was all just a big game of telephone.

Yards

Joel and I have neglected our yard for quite some time. Mainly because we didn't have a lawn mower for the longest time nor did we have the money to purchase a new one. Due to this we decided to hire our teenage neighbor across the street to mow our lawn every other week. Long story short...he did it twice and just stopped. That's when our yard started to look like a jungle. We bought a lawn mower off of Craig's List for $35 but it's not in good shape.

I finally got on a kick and did some yard work. I was able to coerce Joel to mow the lawn w/ the crappy mower. Well...while he was mowing he noticed that someone mowed a message in our lawn. But now it's so over grown that we can't tell what they wrote and he mowed half of it before he noticed it. We are assuming it said something like "Cut Me" or "Mow Me". Our neighbors (on the side where the message was) are trying to sell their house so we're wondering if they are annoyed with us and perhaps they are the culprits. I want my house to look pretty and I don't want to be the annoying neighbors who don't take care of their property but it's just not a priority. We don't have the money to buy a mower quite yet...I hope our neighbors don't hate us too much!

Soon the boredom will end...

Woot Woot...I have a little less then three weeks before I start my new interpreting job. I am excited for many reasons!
1. I will be working with a student who relies on an interpreter.
2. I will be getting paid way more more than I ever have.
3. I will have a job and the boredom will end!
4. I am driving to Texas to see my cousins. It will be a blast.

Can't wait!

Mayfest

In May, Joel and I went to Mayfest. It was a small festival in a nearby town. It was so hot, so we sat under a tree and drank lemonade. A woman took a picture of us for a local magazine called Southern Mississippi Living. Joel's co-worker told us that they saw our picture in the magazine. Not only are we famous...wink wink... but I guess this officially makes us "southerners" as well! Heehee! Above is the pic!

My new creation

I've been trying to fill my time with new things. I decided to hand sew this bag. It took a long time but I think I like the end result. I bought a similar bag in Israel and wanted to replicate it. Of course I had to take the Israel bag apart to figure out how to make another one, but it was worth it! I know my sewing buddy, Jill, will be proud :)

Next endeavor...finish putting pics in my already made wedding scrap book.

:(

I can't explain the loss I feel. It seems all the people who I love dearly are so far from me. My sister and her family left for Jordan this week and I am missing them terribly. I wish they could live here where I could be around to watch my nieces and nephews grow up and where I can pick up the phone at any moment to talk to my sister (without worrying what time it is there). Although I am missing out on those things and I feel this tremendous loss once again...I am also reminded that I have had many opportunities to travel and experience new things because of it.

I want to win the lottery so I can visit them often...I guess I can't win without playing...I better get moving on that! :)

Job Title

I am a Sign Language Interpreter...I've been called a signer....a deaf interpreter...and today for the first time I was called a hand linguist. I think I like that one the best...it sounds classy ;)

Row 31

I was on line...ready to board the plane, I took note of my seat number and made my way to 31A. As I was getting closer to my seat I realized that I was going to be in the last row, which was a first for me. I was also going to be in a window seat which is not my preference, but I was unable to switch it to an aisle seat at the kiosk earlier in the day. I convinced myself that it was a short flight and I could hold my bladder, so being stuck in a window seat was no big deal. EXCEPT...the last row doesn't have a flippin' window. I watched as everyone hurried to their seats and came to the realization that the flight was packed and there was no way I would be able to switch my seat (plus who would want to switch with me...that's the worst seat ever?!?)
I read my book and tried to ignore the fact that I am super claustrophobic. I felt out of breath...I kept trying to keep calm and did everything I could to not flip out. Finally we were in the air. The guy in front of me was getting comfy and reclined his seat back...as if it wasn't bad enough, now I was even more closed in with no window to see the outside world (and I was not able to recline my own seat because last row seats obviously don't recline). I thought maybe there is a vacant seat...I frantically waved down the flight attendant and asked him if I there was anyway I could sit somewhere else...I didn't realize how freaked out I was until I noticed that my voice was cracking and tears were welling up in my eyes. I could tell the flight attendant felt bad for me but there was nothing he could do. I felt like I was going to hyperventilate at any moment and was shuffling through the seat pocket in front of me for the barf bag. The good news is I made it in one piece...but never will I ever sit in 31A again.

Hanging out with my hubby...

I have to say...I've been having a blast hanging out with Joelie...we have been trying to mix things up a little..going on hikes...playing beach volleyball...doing puzzles...and learning ball room dancing from a dvd we rented from blockbuster. I hope it's like this forever :)

Surprise Killer

I learned something new about myself this weekend...I am a surprise killer. Joel tried to surprise me twice and I ruined it!

Surprise #1

I had mentioned to Joel in passing that we should go to the Navy festival on the weekend because Chris Sligh from American Idol would be playing. I didn't watch AI consistently that season but I thought that Chris Sligh was pretty cool! So on
Friday night the day before the festival Joel and I went out to see a movie and after that Joel said that he had a surprise for me. I tried to guess what it was but he wouldn't budge...I couldn't get any info out of him. As we entered the Navy base I thought to myself, what can the surprise possibly be? We got to the building and a greeter asked if we were there for the VIP event (still no clue what it could possibly be). We walked in and it was just a bunch of people sitting around eating appetizers...then I look over and I saw Chris Sligh there chatting and taking pics with people. It turned out to be a meet and greet with Chris Sligh. It was so thoughtful of Joel to bring me to this event but I was hardly a fan of Chris Sligh I didn't know much about him...I just thought that it would have been cool to see him in concert (post American Idol). Plus I've never been one to be a fan of anyone...and I never really cared when I saw famous people...it doesn't phase me. I am also not one to randomly chat with people...it makes me anxious. I felt bad because Joel totally thought that I was a big fan of Chris Sligh...he didn't realize that I wasn't so much. I should have taken a pic and chatted with Chris Sligh so Joel wouldn't think that his surprise was a big failure...but I couldn't bring myself to do it! I AM a horrible surprise killer!

Surprise # 2

I had a horrible UTI (hopefully that's not too much info) and I was up until 4 in the morning. I slept in pretty late. I got up, opened the door, and saw Joel preparing breakfast for me (which was supposed to be a surprise)...he said "you get back in there right now"...I did so he could officially bring me breakfast in bed. He also bought me a dozen roses and an eye mask so I could sleep better.

Joel is so cute...I am so blessed to have a husband who wants to surprise me...I just have to stop being such a surprise killer!

Not another splint! Ahhhh!

I have been having wrist issues. Now I am in Occupational Therapy and I wear a splint on my left wrist when I am not interpreting. On Sunday, Joel and I decided to throw the football around on the beach. I took off my splint and after about the fifteenth catch, I jammed my finger. The next day it was super swollen and I couldn't really move it. The good news is that it seems as though it's not broken even though it is common for fractures (mainly in the fingers and the hands) to show up later. The doctor still gave me a splint for my index finger on my left hand. Interpreting has been challenging...I am forced to sign with my right hand even though I am a lefty and I didn't realize til' now how often interpreters use their non-dominant hand. I am hoping this is the last splint that I will have to wear for a while :)

Grrrr!

I consider myself a pretty adaptive person...but I find myself getting frustrated because I don't want to adapt to certain things. Then I wonder...if sitting around and doing nothing makes me just as guilty. Let me expand on my frustrations;

Frustration # 1: The things I see on a daily basis is unprofessional and just down right wrong. I've seen a teacher give a student a wedgie. I've seen two other teachers make fun a kid who was born pigeon toed (and had numerous amounts of surgery which causes him to walk with a limp) and call him little man/little legs. They tease and torment the students as though they are the class bullies not the teachers. Today one of the teachers picked up a student put him on the desk and wouldn't let him get up. They all think it's fun and games. I think it's ridiculous.

Frustration #2: These very same teachers earn more than I do while they sit around and text and play on their computers...making my life so stinkin' boring because they aren't teaching. (I am not that lazy though...I teach my student anyways even though that's not what I am getting paid for). Today we watched Jurassic Park...how educational!

Frustration #3: My student has been so robbed by the education down here that I interpret everything, but I know full well that she only gets half of what is being interpreted. This wouldn't matter so much if my wrist wasn't in so much pain.

Frustration #4: After May I need a new job but it seems impossible to find a good job without working at the local Deaf center...they only have four positions and they look like they will be filled for life. So I am discouraged about finding a new job.

That's enough frustrations for now. Maybe this is all happening so that I will get off my butt and do something about it. I just feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start. Despite all that, life is good and I am blessed. I just can't believe some of the things I see!

Deaf Camp

This past weekend I volunteered at a Deaf Camp. There were about 30 kids...Deaf and CODAS. We went to New Orleans to go to the Aquarium and the Insectarium. I ate a cinnamon sugar wax worm and a Cajun cricket...pretty sure I wouldn't do that again. We went fishing, had egg hunts, magic shows, and lots of other fun things, but let me tell you...it wore me out!

One thing that stood out to me the most was the reality of seclusion that Deaf kids face on a daily basis. At the camp there were two brothers and a sister who were hearing and didn't know sign language. I figured they were there because either their parents were Deaf or they had a Deaf sibling. I saw how the three of the them interacted...they acted like normal brothers and sisters...teasing, playing, calling each other names, etc. Finally by the end of the weekend I saw facial similarities of these three kids to one of the Deaf kids and finally put two and two together. I would have never known that they were all related because they didn't even talk to their Deaf brother the entire weekend. I feel so bad for that Deaf kid. He must feel so left out. It just seems so unfair and wrong that his family doesn't try to learn sign language and communicate with him. I think I read somewhere that in Sweden the family of a Deaf child was required to learn sign language and if they didn't...they would be charged with neglect. I could totally be making this up but I am pretty sure I read about it somewhere about ten years ago when I first started learning sign language. I think it's a good law. I am so sick of meeting Deaf kids whose sisters, brothers, and even parents can't communicate with them. I wish I could just adopt them all!

On a good note though...there were also other families where the hearing brothers and sisters were completely fluent and hung out with their siblings.

No Need To Cut Off My Wrists!

After many doctor, x-ray, and MRI appointments I finally got answers about why my left wrist hurts so much. I had this bump on my hand. Most of the doctors I was referred to thought that it was a cyst, but it is actually my bone (metacarpal boss). The tendons surround the bone and every time I sign or use my tendons in my hand it scrapes against this bone and causes irritation and wrist pain as well. So I got a shot of steroids in it today and we will see how it goes...if it works, then I will need to get surgery where they will shave the bone down. I really hope that this is what causes the pain and that the surgery works!

Hanging out with the family...

In the south they celebrate Mardi Gras...they officially have two days off of school. I figured I have a few more years to experience what Mardi Gras is like so I decided to visit my family in NY. I had fun teaching my nieces and nephew to beatbox. They are so good at it and it's so cute. I've been having fun playing with the kiddies and hanging out with my sister and bro-in-law. My bro-in-law preached at church the other day and mentioned that him and his family is going back to Jordan in three months...it finally hit me that they are going back so soon. I cried for the first half of his sermon. It's cool that my sister and the family live in another country but I am super sad that they won't be a short flight away! I am blessed to have the time and money to visit them when I can tho!

Stubs

Ouch! MY WRISTS HURT. I have been in so much pain. I don't know why, but my wrists are killing me and interpreting/signing everyday doesn't help. I went to the doctor and I am finally going to see about removing the cyst in my hand...hopefully that will get rid of some of the pain. Some days I just want to chop off my hands at the wrist and walk around with stubs, but then I get a mental picture of me interpreting (with stubs) and I come back to my senses.

GRRRR!

I was in the hallway walking to my last class of the day. The commotion in the classroom seemed a little louder and boisterous than normal. As I walked through the door I was reminded that there would be a sub today. I looked over to see a familiar face.

Flashback...about two months ago.

I was sitting in my normal chair that was in the sight line of my student and where the teacher normally stood. The sub seemed busy so the opportunity to introduce myself slipped away. I saw her walking my way and was ready to finally introduce myself when she sternly said "YOU KNOW YOUNG LADY THAT YOU SHOULD NOT BE SITTING THERE, YOU GET TO YOUR SEAT RIGHT NOW" One by one the students chimed in before I could get a word in edge wise..."that's not a student! That's Miss Bowlyay!" I informed her that I was the interpreter and I introduced the student who I worked with to her. She apologized (she probably felt embarrassed about how snippy she was with me).

Present day

Surely that last encounter was etched in her memory forever, I thought to myself...no need to introduce myself once again, she already knows who I am. I sat in my normal chair in the front of the classroom facing the students. I scolded the students for being so dang disrespectful to the sub. I was interpreting everything the sub said. The students asked me questions about the work and I helped them (because that is the relationship we established...I help when I can). The sub gave me the attendance roster to see if all the kids were there...I thought that she thought that the kids could not be trusted so she just had me (a staff member) do her the favor of taking attendance.

My student worked diligently the entire class period. She works at a pretty slow pace but she was doing a great job. The sub came up to me and said could you two do me a favor...could you hurry up and get the work in? You only have about a half an hour left til the bell rings, right?!?
I responded...well actually we leave twenty minutes earlier than the rest of the kids.
WELL YOU TWO GIRLS BETTER GET YOUR WORKED TURNED IN!
All the students busted out laughing. I did everything I could not to roll my eyes and in the nicest way possible explained to her that I was staff and that this had happened before (where she mistook me as a student). She said that she didn't remember. I refreshed her memory and she realized her mistake.

So much for learning from your mistakes! I guess what I don't understand is that
I was dressed in nice work clothes...I was signing, helping some students and scolding others...how is it not super obvious that I am a staff member?!? And furthermore why would a sub yell at a special ed student for not turning their work in a half hour before the class is over? The entire time the kids were rudely commenting on how ancient the sub was..saying that her teeth were going to fall out of her head...I scolded them...she ignored them...and out of all the people to get snooty with she decided to get snooty with me. FOR THE SECOND TIME...grrrrr!

Sad Stuff

When I got back from Christmas break I overheard the teacher telling the students that something sad had happened while we were all away on our vacations. She said that one of the students (we'll call her K) had been in an accident and that she was "gone". One sentence later she was introducing the new student as if the new student had replaced the one who died. It seemed as though it hardly phased anyone. The whole day I was thinking about K and all the conversations we had. I thought how sad it was that her life was cut short. But, for me, what was even more sad was that people just moved on with their lives or so it seemed. Maybe it wasn't the right setting for everyone to sadly reminisce about K's life or maybe people just don't know how to react to death but I just felt this extreme sadness and I wished I knew if others were experiencing the same.

Fast Forward: Two Weeks Later

My cousin's wife Heather had been struggling with cancer for a while. I was supposed to see her at Christmas Eve but I had a bad cold and would have made it worse if I visited her in that condition. She was supposed to come to my wedding as well but she was too weak to come.

On Monday I just had one of those bad days. My friend had told me something in the morning before work that caused me to be on the verge of tears for the entire day. After work I had to pick up Joel at the tire store. I couldn't keep the tears in anylonger so with teary eyes we continued to look for tires for Joel. We had gone to three more stores and couldn't find what he was looking for. When we finally found the tires we needed we realized that we couldn 't afford them unless we used a bunch of gift certificates that we had gotten from our wedding plus money that I didn't really have. I was clearly having a rough day.

Some time in the middle of running all our errands I noticed that I had a voice mail. It was my mom informing me that Heather had passed away. I was thinking of what a crappy and frustrating day I had and then I thought of my cousin Scott who just lost his wife at the age of thirty-four. I can't even imagine what he is going through. I wish I could understand death. I wish I could just say that K and Heather are in a better place now and be satisfied with that. I will never understand why some people have long full lives while other lives are cut short, but what I have learned for sure is that life (short or long) is an amazing gift from God. It's easy to get consumed by the frustration of life and the rough days but I have to remember how blessed I am to have life now and even after I die.

Woot Woot There are Deaf People in Gulfport!

Last Saturday I was invited to go an RID meeting (Yes...they have RID down here...who knew?!?). I met some other interpreters. They seemed super nice and I look forward to getting to know them more. I haven't met any nationally certified interpreters yet but the ones I did meet were state certified. After the meeting we went out to dinner and I got to hang out with a bunch of terps and two Deaf ladies. Then we all went back to the "Dynamic Bro Duo" performance. They are two Deaf brothers who do a comedy show! It was amazing how many Deaf people were there...I didn't think that many lived in Mississippi. I am excited now...Mississippi isn't a Deaf desert like I thought! Woot Woot!

Monday Morning

Just got back from a great three day honeymoon. I forced myself to go to bed early so I could wake up at the butt crack of dawn to go to work. Get dressed...drive 45 mins to work. I think to my self...boy it looks pretty empty. Sign in. The teacher says.."oh you don't have to be here it's a staff development day and the student's arent here".

DOH!

Rewind...three months ago.

Joel: Honey I really want to go on a four day cruise for our honeymoon. Can you get that Monday after New Year's off?
Sarah: No way...I already took all these days off for other weddings I can't take another day off.
Joel: Are you sure? Come on just see if you can get it off.
Sarah: NO..I AM NOT TAKING IT OFF...let's just go somewhere for three days.

Back to present day.
Doh...could have taken a four day cruise. But it actually worked out better because he didn't have to take more leave days...and now we can save those for our real honeymoon in the summer.

Cold Hard Evidence

Exhibit A. Pin Curls!

Exhibit B. My guests were cold.

Worry Wart

You would think that now that the wedding and all the planning is over the worrying would cease as well. Not so much, when you are worry wart like me. I can't stop worrying...thoughts keep cycling in my head like..."all the guests at my wedding were freezing and wearing scarves"..."now that I've seen pics I realized that the back of my head looked like an old lady wearing curlers"...and then I think I am going to look like an old lady in all my wedding pics. I am driving myself crazy. I think I am driving Joel crazy too! Grrr! Is this normal? I try to focus on all my cool friends who came to share the special day and the fact that I am married to a wonderful man...in the end old lady hair and cold guests don't really matter I guess! :)