Pride

Today is my push week for VBS. There is much to be done in final prep, mostly little things, but I have one week to get them done. I was downstairs in the basement hanging the coral paintings on the walls by myself, in the heat because there is not air conditioner in the church. Some woman whom I did not know paid me a complement on all of my work and was impressed with my talent. The downstairs is starting to look great and all I could think about was it was a shame that in a weeks time, all the decorations that I have spent HOURS making will be torn down and tossed in the trash. At the thought of this I got a little angry. All this work just to have it torn down. Then a little voice went off in my head. It said to me, "WHAT IN THE HECK ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT! This is not about you. It is about the children this is benefiting! Many children could be lead to Christ through VBS and I am blessed just to be apart of it!" I feel shameful now for my thoughts at that moment. This was never about me and for some moment I had turned it all around. I'm glad the voice spoke to me and reminded me of what is important. Pride stinks! I am glad to be back in my right mind. All the hours spent will be worth it to seek the kids faces light up next monday. Things like this is what childhood memories are made of!

A Man and his Boy

Here is the newest member of the Corbett family . . . Jasper! He lives with my father-in-law and Dylan. Here we are two weeks after Jasper came home on a MS Walk in April.

Internet Owner

Today the internet guy can and installed it in our apartment. We also got cable. I think I am really enjoying this! I can watch T.V. and type on the computer at the same time. I hope this does not affect my ability to get things done around the house. I know when I had cable before, I would watch it and not get a lot done. It is distracting.

My cat has found his first toy that appeases him. It is a bee that has crinkle plastic inside it. He loves it. More tomorrow! Hurray for the internet!

Finally I can blog!!!

So I have been trying to get to my parent house to blog. I really miss it. Camp has been giving me the run around. I love it!! I have great kids, moody parents, and a GREAT STAFF!!!! It took me about two days before I was able to get into my groove and be a natural leader. When I am nervous I do not take charge of people like I know I can. Camp is going great.

Shaune and I finally broke down and will be getting internet on Tuesday night. He realized that as a teacher, I need the internet for various things, and conveniently, we found a note on our door that said Comcast (which I hate) would be in the area on a Saturday to offer special deals on Internet and cable. So we got a package deal on the internet and basic cable. I am excited and cannot wait to blog regularly again! Will post again on Tuesday night or Wednesday after the internet has been installed. I have so many cute thing to journal about my children and great staff!

A HOME NO MORE

Shaune and I had the house inspected on Friday. It turns out that the house has foundation problems. To good to be true. We have made the decision to not buy the house. Reasons being I did not want to buy a lemon and end up being stuck living in a piece of fruit for the rest of my life like James and the Giant Peach. (He had a really cool story, but I would not like to live in a piece of fruit.) We decided to end our search because we are currently involved in a business investment for Shaune's company. Our ship has sailed for now, but may come again next year. Boo hoo to living in an apartment where the kids run around like a heard of buffalo and the man down stairs curses like a boat load of sailors. Yes to living in the apartment because of my really awesome creek where I can sit and stare at the beauty of God and marvel at his depth in creation. WOO HOO for the internet! We will finally be breaking down and spending the outrageous $40 bucks a month to have the internet in our apartment.

The summer program starts next week. I will be setting up my site and training people this week. Pray for my nervousness and the confidence to be a good Site Supervisor. I am so excited about this summer!

A Home

Today the banks sent back our contracts SIGNED!! We have five days to get an inspector in there to look at it, which to my amazement, my husband has one lined up tomorrow at 1:00. PRAISE BE TO GOD! If all goes well we will take possession of our new home on June 16th and be out of our apartment by June 26th. Thanks to all for your prayers. Will post a picture of our almost-ours house later.

A Possible Home...?

Shaune and I may have a house very soon. We have laid down two contracts on homes only to be beat out by two other contracts. On Thursday a foreclosed popped up on the MLS. By that night were looking at it. It needs a lot of paint, new carpet, pull everything out of the front and back yard, a new stove, fridge, and a little love. It is however in a GREAT neighborhood, and is 2,000 square feet. It is also 30,000 dollars below what it should be selling for in the neighborhood. It has 4 bedrooms, a large master, dining, and living room. The kitchen is big, but you could only fit a very small table set in it. It has a great backyard for kids, and a hot tub. We looked at it the first day on the MLS and had on unofficial inspector come out and look at it. By day 2 on the market Shaune laid down a contract... and they came back with a counter offer. We know the house was shown over the weekend because we went by to look at it again and the front door was wide open, all the doors unlocked. Shaune and I always lock all the doors to the house. We sent another counter offer and earnest money today, and hopefully it will be the first contract to be looked at on the Bank's table on Monday. If it is and the bank accepts our counter offer, we move to a pending status. This would be an excellent first home that we could live in for a LONG time. Please pray for us and pray that our contract is the first looked at if anyone else has laid down a contract this weekend. As of Saturday, we are still the first people to lay down a contract. I really like this home and I hope we get it! Our window is closing quick on how much time we have to buy a home (due to other business opportunities) other wise we will stay in our apartment for a year. We should know something by Monday!

End of the School Year

I have been busy! We are still looking for a home and school is coming to an end and the summer program is just starting! Exciting!

Job Description

I have been thinking to myself lately as I observe the world around me and I have begun to wonder, "What do I want to be?" I have decided to be a teacher. Mostly everybody know that I want to be a teacher. A teacher of art, a general classroom teacher, any of these would float my boat. But I will say that working with ESD has opened my eyes about something. I have changed what I want to be. In stead of just being a teacher, I want to be the teacher that can help effective transition learning disabled children, and high function disabled children back into the classroom. Through the various schools I have been at I have discovered that not enough needs are being met. General classroom teachers have been relying on the resource teacher or the inclusion teacher to handle the children. Many teachers are overwhelmed by people with disabilities. I am at times too. But I think that because of being Dyslexic and see how people treated me, I want to help the children and set the parents down the right road when they are young. I believe the more you invest in your children, the more you will enjoy them and teach them how to be a good stewart with what you have. Jesus said "Let the little children come to me." And they came. I say bring on the challenge and let God show me the path I am to take, and if this be the road, then so be it.

Math Class

*Trumpets Heralding in the Background*

Hear Ye, Hear Ye! I HAVE PASSED MATH WITH AN "A"! My graduation in a year and a half is now secure! This Dyslexic has made her first and last A in math because I do not have to take math anymore! WOO HOO!

House Hunting

Our apartment complex decided that they were going to raise our rent by 10 percent. Shaune and I have decided to find a house. We found a really cute one and there are no offers on it yet. On Monday or Tuesday there will be an offer though. OURS!!! My husband is truly amazing. He was able to make as few call and show me houses with his realestate license. We looked at 5 in one day decided on two that we like. Hopefully they will not raise above our price range. My husband has great talent on reading people, he has better woman's intuition than I have! House hunting is stressful though. It is a real marriage tester. You have to be patient and play the waiting game. Make concession with one another about what you want, where you want to live and what you can afford. My husband is wise with money and is choosing houses that we can afford and live comfortably. He is a good husband. I am lucky to have him. I learned a valuable lesson this week. Trust in the talents that God has gifted you with. Use them to your abilities and trust others to use them wisely.

Loss of the Internet

I don't think I appreciated the internet until I lost it. The people we were bootlegging the internet from decided move out. Now we do not get the internet in our apartment anymore. My husband and I have things we need to get paid off before we can afford to get it. We don't have cable either. We have a 42 inch screen t.v., but no cable! I think this is funny. I am going to have to visit my mom and dad more, either that or save up a year and decide to buy it. Let me see, news, news,.... my grandmother went home the other day. She is healthy and well. My cat has allergies, I am up to my ears in homework, reports, and finals that are coming up next week. Of course it is all stuff that I need the internet for. Our country and life style has become so dependent on the internet. If terrorists really wanted to displace people, get rid of the internet and the phone lines. That would slow America down. It is such as shame that we have become so dependent on it. Everything that I wanted to watch on t.v. I can watch on the internet. Don't need the home shopping net work, I have e-bay! No one uses the phone as much as they do e-mail. What do you think?

Grandmother Update

I have spent the last several days rising early and coming home late in order to see my family. My grandmother Carol, her sugary went along great, but her recovery time took her twice as long as was predicted for her to come out of. She was hurting really badly and the hospital almost OD on pain killers, so my mom spent the 1st night at the hospital with her because the gave her a reversal and put her on oxygen. At times she would stop breathing for a second or two so thus the oxygen. They sedated her pretty heavily. The only time they could get her to wake up and come around was when they would say "Grandma" really loud and she would look for her grandchildren. I however, am the only grandchild in the area. I got there on Tuesday night and my mom and grandpa had just left. My grandfather was having sever anxiety problems with seeing my grandma in such a sedated state.

It was awesome. When I got to her room, it was the first time she had come around all day, she talked to me and carry on small conversations. She laughed lightly, and was happy. Shaune and I stayed for about 45 minutes before leaving. On the way home I called my grandpa and told him we had been there to see her. I did not realize how badly my grandma had been until I called my grandpa. He started crying when I told her how grandma had responded. He was happy. Today, I got up early in the morning to go and visit her. Mom told me that I may not want to come because she was just as bad as the night before the first visit. My grandpa was really sad again because he had never seen her in a good condition yet. After I arrived, it was just like when I had visited before. She started coming around and talking and laughing. She was much better. My grandpa started crying again because now he could see that she would really be getting better. As of tonight, she is more coherent and out of danger with the medication situation. She is still in a lot of pain, but God has been with her.

Thanks everyone for your prayers! I have been in prayer for several days now and I have no idea how prayer warriors pray as much as they do! It sucks the life out of you! I am exhausted after so much time in prayer. But, it does leave me at peace with myself and whatever happens. Kudos to those who are constantly praying. I love to pray, don't get me wrong, I do it a lot. Some of my prayers are short and I try not to ask for to much for myself, but there are just some of those people who are ment to pray. They spend long days secluded from people and just pray. I am definitely not one of those people. Thanks to those that do.

Grandmother

My grandmother goes in for a full knee replacement on Tuesday morning. Please pray that everything goes well as she is getting up there in years, and my grandfather is so dependent upon her. My mom will be staying with my grandfather to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid incase something goes wrong during the procedure. Happy easter to all!

HE IS RISEN!

Obsessive Movie Watchers

So you know you have watched a movie too many times when you start noticing all the little words and things that should not be in the movie. I have watched the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe more than 10 times all ready. The fox is not in the book, and neither is the kids eating breakfast in Narnia, The book says that Edmond was refreshed by wine. On the 4th time, I found something sad. In the battle scene where Mr. Tumnus is running down the slopes and the giant is swinging his club, there it is. The mother of all dirty works ringing clear in all of its nasty glory. First I thought I was hearing things. And then after about 10 replays, I new the sad truth. I had become like the people who discovered the dirty action scenes in "The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and Aladdin." Such a sad day in Narnia.

Anniversary

Shaune and I had a great 1st anniversary. We started off the morning by going to Donut City in Coppell and then to Starbucks for some major studying time that both of us needed. My sister called and we had a great talk. At 1:00 we had a massage appointment. We did a couples massage where they work on both of you in the same room. This was funny because Shaune had told me that he had a massage before. I get them about once every 3-6 months so I though everything would go great. Shaune's face was priceless when the therapist told him to take off his cloths and then get underneath the sheet. The ladies left, he looked up and I was already half naked. I couldn't help but laugh. I said, "I thought you have had a massage before?" He said, "Yeah, a chair massage at the mall." He really enjoyed the massage. It is something that both of us will do maybe once a year together. He had a study group session at 3:00 and then I took a nap. Later on that night we went to Maggianos in Plano. We ended up with enough food to feed the both of us for a week! Lots of food, prices are not bad at all. For 24.50 per person you get all you can eat. And man, do they keep it coming! Today we are ending our celebration with NARNIA! It was my final gift from him and I CAN'T WAITE TO WATCH IT! I love the chronicles, Hmm... maybe that will be my next blog entry...

Innocents

Today Shaune and I did the MS walk down in Addison. Wee took my dog Emma with us and invited my father in law and Shaune's younger brother Dylan, and their Pug dog Jasper. We walked with Team Waldman who is a huge sponsor and does the benefits for Ameristar. Wile we were walking there was the cutest little black boy, probably the age of 4 walking with his mom, grandma, and sister. When he saw Jasper or Emma he would yell " DOGGIE! DOGGIE DOGGIE!" really loud, clap his hand and jump up and down at the same time. He had the most gorgeous smile and beautiful pearly whites. For about half a mile he ran after Emma smiling laughing, and trying to grab her tail. Every now and then he would laugh and yell, "DOGGIE GET BACK HERE!" and when she would look back at him, he would laugh and chase her some more. She did not mind him the whole time. After a while he started walking with his hand on her back and then soon wanted to help me walk her. His mom was wonderful to talk to and we shared smiles and laughs as her son just had the best of time. We soon started to fall behind our team so we had to part ways and I could catch up. He was really sad and did not want Emma and I to go.

Children are really something, you know? Children bring the brightest light into your life on such a rainy morning. They no nothing of the world in which they live in. God is so amazing in everything He creates. Children have such an innocents in them that as we grow, we will never be able to obtain until Jesus returns. I may never see that little boy again, but just thinking about him makes me smile.

Almost anniversary

Isn't it amazing how fast life can fly by? This Sunday Shaune and I will have been married for a year. A YEAR!!! Where has all the time gone? Somedays, it feels like we have been married forever, and others only a short time. Bill Lee asked me the other day at church the $64,000 question? Is it everything you though that it would be? My answer:

Yes it is. I knew there would be good times and bad times. But I always say that I look forward to the bad times because that is when you grow the most, as an individual and a couple. It is never fun when you are in the middle of a situation, but to look back on it and see where God has been in you life is incredible. I love my husband and would marry him all over again.

(We are celebrating our anniversary by getting massages together. WOO HOO!)

Soccer

I played my first soccer game today for the first time since 7th grade. That was over 11 years ago. Shaune decided a while ago to put a soccer team together at work. Husbands and wives could join too, so I now play coed soccer for a team called "No Gray Area" (We are poking a little fun at his boss because he says this a lot) We won 7-6 and I played defense. It was a very cool experience to play a sport just for fun. Both teams want to win, but it is not as competitive as the men's league. (They destroy one another and get kicked out of games) I had TONS of fun and it was great to meet other girls. I feel more motivated to go out and do more now. Its amazing what a little bit of exercise can do for you. Soccer is also special to me because my husband and I are on the same team. He is a great motivator and encourager. All the ladies told me that he brags about me at work which was so flattering to hear. It make me happy to hear so many people tell me what a great man my husband is. I am thankful that he loves God the ways he does and because he loves God, he loves me in a way that I have never been loved before. *Sigh* Just another wonderful day. I Love life, even when it throws you curves. Its the twists and turns in life that let you grow in ways you never through you could.

Term Papers

Why is it that teachers place term papers and test the week after spring break? They know that no one works on anything over spring break and people forget how to work problems in science and math. I think they do it to break us of our fun. This week has been filled with papers. Four to be exact and 1 vocabulary test, and 2 exams. What a week. I have realized how far children can grow in a year. A man I knew growing up named Adam Hagg was in one of the LISD papers with Grayson and he now teaches at Briarhill middle school. Funny, both of us went there and we were in the same grade and I am still stuck in school. He has become a great teacher. Someday I hope to be the same.