silly me.

Adelle at the Erie Zoo :)

This is no real entry by any means, but just an observation...how funny is it that I faithfully check the blogs of all of my friends who have one (and I do this at probably every other day on a regular basis just to see if they've posted an entry) while at the same time I NEVER post entries to my own blog???

I know, I know, it seems a little backwards...I'll try to remedy that as soon as I can haha :) and post an "actual" blog entry to at least give a life update to y'all who might meander over to my blog from time to time. As usual, life is full and at the moment I'm single-momming it while Jess is at his training. I'm trying to get school stuff done and get my classroom set up, but I confess I haven't gotten very far.

P.S. Thanks for posting your entries on your own blogs...I really love reading about your lives! :)

it's been a long time...shouldn'ta left ya...without a dope beat to step to...step to...step to...

I love this blog. Try it out.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving...a little late... :)

I know I've been neglecting this blog of mine, but the truth is that I've been busy living my life lately. (But thanks for the reminder because I had actually forgotten that I needed to update, Subway Twin...lol) A quick update with the promise of a better, longer, more detailed post in the future: Jesse's home! :D He went back to his "regular" job after we went to Disney World in mid-October. We're looking into bigger houses because we're going to need more space. Adelle's loving having Daddy home and enjoying her second year of preschool at GCC. We're set for the first of two adoption hearings on December 23. :) I'm finishing up my last grad class before graduating in December, loving my kiddos at school even though that's difficult some days with this class (lol), and trying to enjoy life amidst the chaos.

some numbers and...soon...

It's somewhere around three weeks now until Jesse comes home. It's been a little over seven months since I've seen him, but he's been gone for about eleven altogether except for his leave over Christmas. In about fifteen days we'll have been married for a year. I'm so ready for this separation to be over, so the end of this seems to be going so slowly. At the same time, I have so many things to accomplish between now and then (mostly school-related, Gannon-related, and house-related...getting it ready for him to come home haha) that I know I'll be busy the
whole time that I'm waiting. Can't wait...

recently...

I really should get some sleep, but for some reason I feel like writing a little on here...haven't been around this blogger block for a while, but here I am again...

So...time is passing and we're getting by. I always get really emotional about once a month (lol and what woman doesn't?) because all the missing him gets to me, but I know it's coming to an end. Honestly, it feels more frustrating now because it's been monthsssss and I'm just so ready to see him and feel like he's actually my real husband again...I guess it's like the last few weeks of pregnancy haha. It never gets any easier, but I'm a trooper now and I'll get through it no worse for the wear.

I just finished up a ridiculously frustrating grad class, but I'm not going to go into that too much. I actually love going to class and learning, but I didn't like feeling like I was wasting my time because of the prof's way of conducting class and the little "energizers" he made us do (think team-building activities) even though the class was about assessments. I have probably never been so glad to see a class end than this one for some reason.

I've been enjoying Adelle so much this summer so far...she is an amazing kid, and she's always impressing me with what she can do now that she's a "big girl." :)

mixed emotions.

School's out for the summer!

I got through the last few days without too many snags even though it wore me out, and all the stuff that I listed on my last blog that was stressing me out got done somehow, of course. I said goodbye to my kids and realized how much I will miss them, even the ones who I had to discipline every day and the ones who drove me crazy. I love them all and was proud to be their teacher.

I also said goodbye to my second and third grade teachers, who retired at the end of this year; I was so proud to be their colleague after being in their classrooms, but I don't ever feel like I'll be their equal because they were such wonderful, amazing people and teachers.

And I kept thinking about how Jesse was here at the start of this school year and how he took time off of work to come in and see my classroom and help me with things there (haha...doing some "tall" things that I have trouble doing like taking things down out of the upper shelves and tops of the cabinets and such)...and how I was packing it up by myself and might be starting next school year solo because we still don't have a date for his return. Also, I just found out that a guy from Jesse's unit was killed on dismounted patrol and that they had a funeral for him immediately followed by a 14-hour mission...my heart aches for him because I can't imagine how hard it must be to keep on doing what he's got to do despite what he's been through. And it definitely scares me to have that happen so close to my husband...I try not to worry, but you know it's always there in the back of my mind.

So...overall a very emotional end to the schoolyear because of what I'm going through with Jesse being in Iraq and thinking about how fast life goes anyway.

I'm still processing and thinking about all of that, but it was nice getting to relax today and spend time with people who mean a lot to me. Today my best friend Erin came down with her stepdaughter and we went to see Up (very good but very emotionally intense in parts) and out to dinner. We always have good conversations and I always feel so much more like myself when she's around. I'm blessed to know how it feels to be genuinely understood and cared for by her.

I don't think summer can ever be too long...usually it's too short, especially with taking classes and living life and getting ready to start next school year. But with that said, I think it's going to be a long summer without Jesse...going to work and dealing with all that wonderful work that teachers bring home with them every night and on the weekends somehow kept my mind occupied. Now I've got some free time at night and I think it's going to be hard since I've spent the last three summers hanging out with him at night. Not to mention that I'm starting to really miss him since it's the time we've been apart keeps getting longer and longer. I do feel like this whole deal, while not very positive in itself, is making me realize what's important to me in life...it's clarifying in some way. I try to remind myself little positive things like that...it's what keeps me going at this point.