So with diligent work, my classroom is finally situated...well, as much as it's going to get! I ended up going in last Saturday with Josh and worked on it all this past week. I went in today to put on some final touches. The kids will be arriving this Tuesday.
The bulletin board outside of my classroom. Each star has a student's name on it. The cubbies where the students will hang their coats and back packs. Notice our own personal bathroom!
The reading area and soon-to-be computer area.
The classroom. My desk is in the far corner. The big white board at the front is an interactive SMART board. It hooks up to your computer and you can write on the board and do other fun stuff...if only it was hooked up (our school is technically still under construction).
I went to make a post on the blog and....WHAT? I didn't write that! Let me tell you about the few moments of confusion I had until I realized that Josh posted to the blog! And how nice it was! Since Josh pretty much said everything that I was going to say, here are some pictures to go along with his post.
Here's Melina after she made the spare. How cute is she?
And of course, here's Niko being Niko :o)
I made cookie favors for Kim's shower.
This is the scene I walked into on Saturday afternoon. Yes, I SAID I wasn't going, but I thought about it and realized that there was no way I could move the furniture on my own so Josh so graciously manned up and helped me arrange the furniture in my room. As of today, it is coming along and I've unpacked about half of the 60 boxes (there were more behind me in this photo and some stacked up under the dry erase board at the front).
This is my first official post; we'll see how it goes. This past week/weekend really put us to the test. Leyla was a tremendous help to me throughout my background investigation (she was essentially "on-call" last week and available whenever I needed her assistance). I want to thank those of you who took part (many of you, again).
It seemed as though Saturday began where Friday ended. We started Saturday by heading into school. Lina and I teamed up and moved some furniture around; her new classroom was a bit overwhelming upon arrival but much more manageable once we finished. I think Leyla felt a small sense of relief when we left. We drove to the grocery store next and headed straight home to clean house for the next several hours in preparation for Sunday. Later that evening we attended Miss Melina's Camp Rock themed 8th birthday party at the Milford Bowling Lanes. This is always fun stuff. Sunday proved to be the biggest test for Lina (I had it pretty easy as I was able to spend the afternoon with Big Joe). Lina hosted a baby shower for her sister at our home and although I wasn’t there, heard it turned out really well. The shower took many weeks of preparation and Lina did well coordinating with both family and friends throughout the process.
This post is really more of a "thank you" to my wife for her assistance and support. These things often get overlooked because of the strenuous schedules and demands of life. Thank you for tolerating the training, late night meal preparation and dialogue sessions. Thank you for your unwavering support regarding my training and the Delaware State Police – you are as much a part of it as I am. With all that's occurred recently, we are both really looking forward to spending time with each other and our family and friends this weekend. Labor Day is a time to take a break and relax. We will be thinking of each of you, as you are all important to us. Take some time to relax and be with those you care for.
This week mainly consisted of Josh working for two background investigations. He has been filling out the background information packet for the Dover police and talking with the background investigator for the DSP. Both have kept Josh (and me) extremely busy! A big thank you for all of those who spoke to the corporal about Josh...at least I think I should say thank you! HA HA! The corporal already knows EVERYTHING, so honesty is the best policy. And thanks to those who may end up speaking to the Dover police.
As far as what has been going on with me, I returned to school today. Today basically consisted of school meetings and team building activities...woo-hoo. Can't you see my beaming excitement? My school is still under construction and we are allowed to go into the building on Saturday...YEAH RIGHT...that's EXACTLY what I want to do on Saturday. I will already be busy with my weekend. I think I can make it until Monday.
Since many people are interested where Josh is in the police process, I thought I'd give an update. As of right now, he has applied to both the Delaware State Police (DSP) and Dover Police Department. He has completed the written exams, physical fitness tests (which of course we all know that he smoked!), and oral interviews with both agencies. As far as Dover is concerned, Josh is working on his background packet (literally a BOOK of forms for Josh to divulge his entire life history) to be followed by a background investigation with an officer. Because Josh made it to the very end of the DSP process last year only to be turned down because lack of spots, Josh is first on the list for a background investigation this time around. In fact, he went to the DSP headquarters today to meet with his background investigator (which will be MUCH more condensed this time around). If both police departments want him, Josh is in a difficult position. Even if only one department wants hire him, he is in a difficult position. Both options, in addition to the possibility of even staying at All Span, Inc. have pros and cons. That's what is going on with Josh's application process. Please keep Josh in your thoughts and prayers that he is offered and accepts the right career for himself and family. Thanks!
Congratulations to Jared and Gina on their first child: Leah Elizabeth Judy. She was born Monday, August 11th in the afternoon weighing 6 lbs. exactly and measuring 18.5 inches long. I stole a picture from their blog so that you could see how adorable she is!
So, if you noticed the title of this blog, let me tell you just how true it is! In addition to Jared and Gina just having their baby, Josh's cousin John and his wife, Ashley, just gave birth to their little boy Emmett Ashton Wheatley on July 4th. Check out who else is due: My friends, Laura and Derek with a girl in October My sister, Kim and her husband with a boy in October My cousins, Nikki and Phil with a girl in November My cousin Jess and her partner, Toni, are expecting a little boy in November as well Kristine's sister, Kathy in Feburary My friend, Brooke, in Feburary Another friend, whom I cannot name at this time because it's not public knowledge is due in April.... OH MY! Congratulations to you all!
After the grappling tournament, we headed over to Josh's parents house for Josh and his dad's birthdays. Josh turned 28 on August 7th and his father turned the big 5-0 on August 8th. We celebrated by eating crabs and shrimp and drinking beer...well ix-nay on the beer for me. We know how much I like beer. The birthday boys Yummy crabs Curtis poking fun of his dad for enunciating the word ham-mock instead of just hammock (hammick). Clockwise from the bottom left: Curt (Josh's Dad), Kacie (Josh's neice), Melissa (Josh's sister), Darryl (Melissa's husband), Josh, Teresea (Curtis's girlfriend), Ruth (Josh's mom), and Curtis (Josh's brother). The incriminating evidence of enjoying crabs and beer
Josh participated in his first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grappling tournament today on Saturday, August 9th. It was held in Smyrna, Delaware at a new MMA facility. Although Josh was pumped going into the fight, I was quite apprehensive...imagine that! However, it was actually not as violent as I thought. In fact, the first fight was 2 little kids, probably about 4 or 5 years old in their little gi's. It was quite cute! And of course, Josh did AWESOME! I guess all that "training" paid off. Each match was five minutes long. The first guy he fought was a random guy from a camp in Baltimore (He was the loser from the first match). Josh submitted him with a guillotine in 1 minute 45 seconds.
Josh then fought the winner of the first match, who happen to be his friend and member of his own training camp (Team Viper), Mike. It wasn't either of their intentions to fight each other, but they both gave it all they had. Although, Mike put up a good fight, Josh also submitted him with a guillotine.
ok, so yes, technically our mailing address is Greenwood as someone try to descretly bring to my attention...I'm not going to say who, but you know who you are! However, I believe that the people who made the decision that my neighborhood belongs in Greenwood were missing some brain cells. According to Map Quest, Greenwood is 10 miles from our house whereas Milford is only 6. So...if God forbid had a fire at our house, guess which fire department would show up??? Also, we live in Kent county and not Sussex. We have a Milford phone number. And last, but not least, we live in the Milford School District. So....the way that I see it is that we're Millers in Milford :o)
Sherri and Kim, two fellow teachers, and I went out to our favorite place for lunch today - La Tonalteca (not sure what that stands for, but I'm sure you could tell it's Mexican)! They have the BEST salsa I've ever had! Our typical orders #119 with chicken and diet coke for Kim, #119 with chicken and no beans and a diet coke for Sherri (I get the guacamole from her meal), and #105 and water with lemon for me.... During lunch Sherri suggested that she could use a pedicure and Kim and I both agreed, so on a whim, that's what we did! Now, I don't want to perpetuate stereotypes, BUT I swear that the ladies that were doing our toes were talking about me in Vietnamese. One of them went as far as staring at me for minutes at a time and then turned to talk to her co-workers. So I narrowed it down to one of two reasons: 1. They were wondering if I planned on shutting up sometime soon because I was running my mouth (surprise, surprise) OR 2. They were trying to figure out my ethnicity. Either way, it was VERY obvious that I was a source of entertainment for them. Not that Kim had awful feet by any means at all, but she got semi fussed at for not having a pedicure recently!!! With that said, we all had a good afternoon and it was a nice thing to do in our last few days!
So I bet you thought you were going to read about something else I did this past week. Well...not so much. I planned on painting our master bathroom, but I tired of painting, so I opted to wait. Till when, I have no idea since summer break is coming to a quick end. For all of those non-teachers out there rolling your eyes at the "poor teacher who has to go back to work after being off for 2 months"...you can ....well, i won't go there :o) and besides, I was only off for 4 weeks because I taught summer school! Seriously, though, if you are not a teacher, you don't understand. Not that most full-time workers don't work hard and shouldn't get a break, but let me just say that if teachers did not get some time off, there may be a higher correlation with teachers and the alcoholic and crime rate and the state institutions would probably be full. It's not to say that we don't love those kids and enjoy teaching them, but unfortunately "teacher" is just a very misleading title for what we do....it's all the other crap that is obnoxious (I save you the details). Again, all of you non-teachers rolling your eyes...you just don't get it.
The classroom. My desk is in the far corner. The big white board at the front is an interactive SMART board. It hooks up to your computer and you can write on the board and do other fun stuff...if only it was hooked up (our school is technically still under construction).
