London (Day By Day)

Friday, July 3 - Day 1

We arrived at Hobby Airport at 4:15. I was running late (too much partying at Tanner Manor) and felt very rushed. We ended up catching an earlier flight from Hobby to DFW. We had about a 2.5 hour lay over in Dallas. I had my last good meal at Fudruckers. It was tastilicious!

During dinner I took my Tylenol PM and took a long snooze on the flight. The airplane's television was broken, so no movie entertainment for us. Because the plane was not full, I had plenty of room to stretch out and relax. It wasn't that bad.


Saturday, July 4 - Day 2

Our plane arrived around 12:30 at the London Heathrow Airport. There were a few questions at customs, but it wasn't bad. Everything was pretty painless. Martin (from Goldhill Baptist Chruch) picked us up in the "Happy Bus", a big blue bus with a big sunshine painted on the side. After about an hour of my first scary bus ride we made it to the church for lunch and to head out to the houses. For lunch we ate Dominos pizza - it didn't really taste like Dominos and had some interesting choices for toppings.

I went to my house,The Simmons Family, and took a LONG nap. The dad, James, works at Goldhill as the Pastor of Children/Students. The mom, Helen, works as an accountant. They have the sweetest little girl, Sophie. (She made me feel right at home - it couldn't have been any better.)

That night I went to a concert at the church. It was a CD launch party for a church member. It was actually a very worshipful evening (despite the Black-Eyed-Peas song) and a good start to the trip.

Sunday, July 5 - Day 3
I didn't have to be at church until 10:45. Although it didn't feel like sleeping in physically, I did feel like I had slept in mentally. It was truly a wonderful morning of worship and prayer. A true testament that God is at work around the world. I can't explain how much I needed that time - time to worship without responsibility.

For lunch we had "Bar-B-Que" (hamburgers and sausages) with another family from the church. It was rushed, but good to enjoy the beautiful weather and meet more people.

We had our first trip to the school and a meeting before evening church (which was again an amazing time to feel God's presence). I went to bed early - to get ready for a long week ahead of me.

Monday, July 6 - Day 4
I woke up on Monday morning and plugged in my Chi. I took one swip through my hair and smelt disaster. My hair fried and the Chi turned off to never return to the livinig. Then I tried to talk and things got worse. I had lost my voice and had this horrible high pitched squeal coming from me. It made for a wonderful beginning of the week.

The weather theme for the week was cold and rainy. I wore shorts on Monday, but that was the last day I felt brave enough to do that.

The kids at the school loved learning American Sports and were very interested in getting to know us.

After working at the school we headed to Oxford. It was absolutely beautiful - we went outside of "The Great Hall", visited the pub where CS Lewis and Tolkein wrote and saw the most amazing architecture. In Oxford we also experienced punting. It was a great group bonding experience on the river. You should google it if you have never heard of it.

Tuesday, July 7 - Day 5

• More time at the school.
• I got my voice back, but didn't feel very good.

That night we went to "Quiz Night" at the Village Hall. My group won a quiz - not because of anything we were able to help with - thank you to the English family who helped us out.

Wednesday, July 8 - Day 6

We left early in the day for a trip to London. It was a fun day, but my feet were killing me with terrible blisters by the end.

We visited:

• St. Paul's Cathedral (breathe taking)
• Tower of London
• Thames River Cruise
• Trafalger Square
• Leicster Square
• TGI Fridays (YUM!)
• Wicked (as good as it was the first time I saw it)
• Buckingham Palace

Thursday, July 9 - Day 7

More time at the school. By this day we were able to know more of the kid's names and build more on relationships. It was good. More sports - I am still not good at it!

Thursday night I helped out with Parent Night for one of the Children's Ministry events. This was more my element. They have a large group of community families who participate in their weeknight activities. Most of the parents I visited with did not attend the church, but their kids participated in the activities. What a ministry/mission field they have. Way to go Kara and James for including parents in the programs.

After I helped at the church I went to the Youth Center to help out. This is one really cool place for local teens to hang out. There was also some good Rock Band time.

Friday, July 10 - Day 8

This was our last day with the kids. It was bittersweet. The kids were eager to know if we were coming back next year or if they could visit us in the States.

After school we played the faculty in a game of baseball and had a bar-b-que (again - hamburgers and hotdogs). Our team won - although I did not make a point I actually hit the ball every time I went up to bat. This was a miracle in itself. I was rather proud of myself.

Friday night we went to the school production of Oliver. I thought it was well done. I enjoyed it and was impressed with the talent of some of the kids.

Saturday, July 11 - Day 9

We rode the train back into London. We visited Kings Cross to see Platform 9 3/4 and St. Pancras, which has a famous wine bar (which left a lot to be desired). We then went back to London and visited several shops, The National Gallery (my favorite) and ate at the Texas Embassy.

That night we helped out with an outreach event at the church. The event was not well attended by students, but I was really glad to see the amount of church members who were there to support the event (espcially the senior adults). We had a free bar-b-que (yes - you guessed it - more hamburgers and hotdogs).

Sunday, July 12 - Day 10

Another day of good worship - a much needed ending to the week.

That afternoon we went to Windsor Castle, which I loved. In my opinion it was better than Buckingham and Kensington, which I visited on my last trip to London.

That night we had our last evening meal of pub food and good laughs with friends.

Monday, July 13 - Day 11

Time to head home!!!! Yea!!!! We were a bit delayed in our arrival back to Houston, but I was home snug in my bed (26 hours later) by 11:45 pm. I didn't sleep well, but it was so good to be home.

Robert had made me a super sweet "Welcome Home" sign and brought me a much needed Diet Coke to the airport. When we got back to Tanner Manor I found my surprise - he had cleaned out my very messy car. Too Sweet!!!!

Moving Week

The week before I left for London was beyond busy. I moved houses on Monday and Tuesday. A huge thank you to my parents, Robert, Will and Michelle. I couldn't have done it without them. With their help the move was fairly painless. I moved my bedroom furniture into the house and everything else went into storage. I have had two garage sales over the past year and I thought I had lost most of my junk, but that is not the case. I still have a lot of crap. I guess 8 complete sets of dishes (12 place setttings each), 5 different sets of chargers and 3 different sets of glasses leaves plenty of boxes to be stored away. Over the past year 90% of my stuff had remained packed up in the garage, so I think Robert was a bit surprised as we loaded up the truck.

(The Saturday night before I moved I cut a huge gash in my big toe. The cut produced enough blood to look like a crime scene. It made for an interesting evening.)

In preparation for a 10 day journey I took two of my Texas Examinations. Wednesday morning I took my Special Education (EC-12) test. It was long and tedious. My brain was completely fried by the end of the test. On Thursday morning I took the ESL test, which was not easy as well. The great news is that I passed them both with flying colors. YEA!!!!! Two more things out of the way!!!!!!

Will and Michelle had planned a July 3rd party at the house for Friday. I was very sad I was going to miss out on the party, so we partied that morning. I got up and made a yummy "cooking light" breakfast. Well...I use the term "yummy" loosely. It was actualy "esgusting" in the words of Madisyn. Robert and I got about 2 hours of swimming in before it was time to go.

With all of this going on and the busyness of the trip it was a good thing I dropped my summer school class. This has been very strange, but I am going to make it. I just have to keep finding things to do, so I don't get too bored.

Security Blankets

When I turned 18 years old I changed my Livingston cell phone number to a College Station number. I was so excited and anxiously awaited the day I left for college. Three long weeks later I moved (May 28, 2001) and entered into a new era in my life that would end up changing to foundation of who I am. I loved college and the experiences I had while I lived in College Station. I loved it so much that I stayed for 2 1/2 years after I graduated. I didn't want it to end. I moved from College Station on June 19, 2006.

The decision to for look for jobs outside of the mecca was difficult, but I could tell I had reached my peak and it was time to move on. The first year I lived here in Houston I may have changed my address, but my heart stayed in College Station. I went to visit any time I could. I would even go up Thursday after work and leave the next morning in time to return to work by 9:00. I was unsure if the decision was the right one. (After all being social and making new friends is not really my strong suit.)

Although I have allowed myself to accept the fact that I am a Houstonian now, I held on to my College Station number. After all - that is the number all of my college friends know and what if I ended up moving back one day? No need to change it, right? It became my security blanket - the thing from home that made me feel safe in a strange place.

My cell phone had seen better days and plus I really wasn't even that fond of it. The texting was slow and annoyed me. Since I am going to London next week, I wanted a cell phone that had "global compatibility". (I can't be in another country and not be able to check in with mom - even if it is .99 a minute.) At the end of the process of haggling with the AT&T representative I ended up with a nice new IPhone for $99, whoop!

I was excited. I never have new technology such as that. Although it isn't the new fancy iphone, it is still way nicer than what I am used to. The paperwork began. I handed over my driver's license, gave out my social security number, agreed on minutes, texting package and then the bomb was dropped.

She turned her computer screen around and asked me to pick a new number. I said, "What"? Why do I need a new number? It was all explained to me and the whole time I kept wondering if I could emotionally handle getting a new number. How would everyone know? Can I keep their numbers? I could use facebook to let people know of my new number. Yikes. My stomach was in a knot.

I ended up making the jump into my adult life. I now have a Houston number! My life in College Station is officially in the past. The good news - I really do like my fun new phone.

June

So the month of June has gotten away from me and I have not spent much time blogging or even on facebook. VBS was last week and we all know what that means - I am very busy for about 3 weeks. We had record high numbers this year in Preschool VBS (Infants-Kindergarten) this year. Yea! What that means is we need record high numbers in volunteers, which of course we didn't have. I will say there were about 10 students that stepped up and really helped out a lot with VBS. They were amazing.

Robert's school was out for the summer at the end of May, so we have had fun seeing more of each other. We have been able to hang out at least 2 or 3 days a week, which is a big change from soccer season. We went to Space Center Houston the first Friday he was out. It was the first time I had been, since I moved to Clear Lake. We had a lot of fun. I was able to see lots of pics of astronauts I have met at UBC.

I am moving AGAIN next week. The story of a single gals life. I am actually going to move in with my friend Michelle and her family, Will (husband) and Madisyn. She has a baby on the way too! We will have a house of big love.

Summer school is not as stressful as it was last summer, but still a thorn in my side. After I finish this class I have my internship in the fall and then I graduate in December, whoop!

I leave for London in 10 days - I am super excited about my trip.

I guess that is it for now. I'll try to stay more on top of things in July.

Yard Work

I have found that with teachers things around the house get put off until summer. It is assumed that the built in two months of vacation should be a perfect time for the small jobs. With my mother being a teacher, I learned this at a young age and have accepted this as part of life with Robert. Robert teaches at a private school and summer started for them this weekend, so project time has begun.

Yesterday, Memorial Day, my parents came to Katy and Dad and Robert worked on stuff around the house together. It was a funny and very interesting day. I found myself concerned about both my Dad and Robert. Are they getting along? Is dad explaining what he needs Robert to do? Does dad realize that Robert is not one of my brothers? Is Robert helping? Is he nervous? Is he worried that the plumbing in his house is fixing to explode with one more bang (because I was)?

The day ended with three things on the to-do list marked off and (I think) everyone happy. It was a very interesting day in the life of our relationship.

I've Been Tagged

8 things I am looking forward to....

1. finishing school
2. going to the gym
3. fun weekend with friends and family
4. the end of VBS 2009
5. summer trips (yea for London)
6. "minication" this week (I am pakced and ready to go!)
7. using my Marble Slab giftcard
8. life changes (adventurous, exciting, different, fun - love them)

8 things I did yesterday....

1. went shopping with michelle beth (good deals at ULTA)
2. worked on VBS
3. caught up on some dvr
4. enjoyed some BW3's
5. washed some clothes
6. organized a little bit in my office
7. ordered a bunch of stuff on the internet (for work)
8. looked at insurance junk

8 things I wish I could do...

1. use correct sentence structure when writing
2. spell better (spell check spoiled)
3. strike a match
4. play the guitar (why didn't I stick with my lessons)
5. play nice with others
6. math
7. sing
8. public speaking (I used to be really good at it - now - scares me to death)

8 shows that I watch...

1. Grey's
2. Private Practice
3. Criminal Minds
4. NCIS
5. NUMB3RS
6. Pysch
7. Without a Trace
8. Sandra Lee Homemade

8 people I tag...

*going to skip this one - enjoy*

Pajamas

Today the Weekday Education program at the church had "Pajama Day" and they cordially invited the church staff to participate with them. I have been anxiously anticipating this day for weeks. My heart rejoiced as I awoke this morning - the long awaited day had arrived. I carefully chose my favorite "valentine" pajama shorts from GAP and a nice A&M t-shirt. I could not wait.

When I taught we had "Thursday Theme Day" in Squirrelville - and pajama day was my favorite. When we studied letter 'b' - theme day was "bedtime - wear your pajamas, letter "j" - theme day was "jammies", "p" - pajamas. You get the picture. It was fun. The kids loved it, my teaching assistants loved it and I loved it. There is just something about wearing your pajamas to work.

The day has ended and I am headed home from work, but there is a little sadness in my heart. When I was a teacher I could participate in childlike activities to engage myself with the children. Everyday day was a new adventure as our imaginations ran wild with excitement. Being a "grown-up" means I come to work - in regular clothes and participate in regular adult activities - like meetings. yuck. Maybe as Director, Preschool Ministries I will try to incorporate at least a quarterly theme day to raise the spirits around here. Fun should be had - even by adults!!!!