24 More Hours...

until Chad gets home!!!! I'm so excited and I think he is finally ready to be home. I spoke with him briefly tonight and for him it was the morning of the day he leaves. The Closing Ceremonies were last night, but he didn't tell me alot about it besides he took his video camera this time. They asked them to not take cameras to the Opening Ceremonies, so he followed the rules and didn't get any pictures of his own. He was hoping to get pictures from other people though and I hope he didn't forget. Before he leaves he was going to try to take pictures around the Paralympic Village since he hasn't taken many yet. Well, it's time for me to go clean a little around the house so the house will look nice when Chad gets home! I probably won't post for a few days, please forgive me!

Initiation

Well, I was officially initiated to Gresham today. I was on duty in the lunchroom this morning during breakfast when I look over to see two boys in the breakfast line with their arms around each other and one with his arms around the others neck. I could tell it would not be good. The next thing I knew, they were out in an open area throwing punches at each other!!! I have never been in that situation so I just reacted without even thinking. I attempted to break them up for what seemed like 10 minutes, but I'm sure was only about 30 seconds. At the same time I was yelling at the top of my lungs for them to let go of each other and stop. Right about the time I got them separated I was happy to see another teacher running in my direction to help. She took one and I took the other and we marched them straight to the office. My heart was pounding so hard and I'm sure I was beat red! It took a while for me to calm down, but by the end of the day I had forgotten about it. Needless to say, the two boys were suspended from school for 3 days. I really hope next time I'm not in the right place at the right time to break up any fights.

On another note, I have been glued to the news all night watching hurricane Ike progress. My grandparents live about 30 minutes from the Louisiana border and were able to evacuate. They are VERY worried about their house and are hoping the flooding is not bad. I hear most people in the Houston area are hunkering down, so I will call tomorrow to make sure they are all ok. Please pray that everyone will be kept safe and that there won't be much damage and flooding.

One More Week...

and Chad will be home. I will be picking him up at the airport next Thursday night at 8:54pm, assuming his plane is on time. I can't wait!

I have not been as busy this week, but it's been good. I have gotten quite a few things done around the house that need to be done, but I still have alot more to do. I will have all weekend to try to get some of those things done.

Tonight we have Open House at school and a Ribbon Cutting for the new renovations in our building. I'm resting a little at home before I have to go back to school. I used to stay after school until Open House because it was too far to drive home and back. It was so nice to be able to come home today after school.

School is going well! We finally know which children we will be working with and we will start our "real" schedule on Monday. I'm ready to start working with the children so I can start seeing some results!

Keeping Busy

I continue to keep busy. Yesterday I treated myself to a massage and it was so nice and relaxing. I sure do wish I could get one at least every other week. I am slowly beginning to get some things done around the house. I have many things on my "to do" list to get accomplished before Chad gets home, so I better get started soon! This week I have a few meetings after school and we have our Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Open House on Thursday at school. By then, it will only be one more week until Chad comes home.

I woke up early this morning to call him. He had been shopping all day! I hope he didn't spend too much money! He had to go to a meeting so I'm waiting to call him back. He said the Opening Ceremonies were amazing and a few times while he was there he got overwhelmed and was so glad that he made the decision to go and be a part of it.

Also, last night I got to talk to 2 of my friends on skype. Abbey and Jan somehow found me on skype and called while I was on my computer. That was fun! A little later, Chad called on skype! So, I got to actually see him for the first time. He was in a room that was set up like a computer lab. The computers had webcams built in and each computer had a headset with it. It was really cool!

New Cell Phone

I finally spoke with Chad again tonight. Apparently, something was wrong with his old cell phone so they gave him a new one. He did not have much time to talk, but it seems he is doing well. Please be praying for a couple of the athletes and their classifications. Last night they reclassified several of the athletes, which may mean that some of them cannot compete at all. Their classification is determined by their disability and the amount of mobility they have in certain body parts. After going through tests with the officials, some athletes have been reclassified into different groups which means they may have to throw certain implements that are much heavier than they have been practicing with. Also, a certain mark is required in each classification to be able to compete. Since these athletes have not been competing in that classification they do not have the mark. That is the short version of the story! This is just very frustrating and sad for those athletes who have been training for this for 4 years. One more thing...the coaches were told they would not walk in during the opening ceremonies, but Chad found out that they are letting them walk in after all. How exciting!!! He can't decide if it would be better to walk in or watch from the stands so that he can see everything. Everyone that walks in is kept in a hallway and is not able to see the opening ceremonies take place. Personally, I would rather walk in to have the experience and watch the opening ceremonies on-line or TV later.

Half Way

Tomorrow is the half way mark for Chad being gone. I REALLY miss him and it's especially hard not being able to talk to him much. I'm sure it will only get worse over the next two weeks as he gets busier and busier. I'm trying to keep myself busy to keep my mind off of it. Several of my friends here in Birmingham have been wonderful. I have gone to dinner with many people to catch up on life. Tonight I was invited to dinner at Adam and Karen Blair's house and had a great time visiting and holding little Charlie! Thanks to those who have gone out of their way to hang out with me!