Been a long time...

It has been a very long time since I posted last. So much has happened, I don't think I can put everything in here but I will try to give an overview of the past month or so since I posted.

First of all, SCHOOL IS OUT! I am so relieved! It was a very, very difficult semester and having it completed is so wonderful. I am not sure how my grades are but I don't think I've done too bad. I had some setbacks this semester because of my own illnesses but I got back on track and finished. To explain this illness issue, first of all, I had the foot surgery catastrophe in January that set me back slightly but then in April, something awful hit me. We still don't know what happened but the doctors think I probably had a gallbladder infection. I passed out twice and was really dizzy for a few days with pain in the right side of my chest. I'm still not convinced it was my gallbladder because they didn't find anything wrong with it. What I've noticed since getting better is that my shoulder blade will hurt when I am really tired or stressed (which has been frequent during the past 5 months) and the right side of my chest will hurt. But I haven't had anymore dizziness or fainting so I guess I'm ok for now. The doctor said to just keep an eye on it. In the past two weeks I have been feeling really good so maybe I'm all better. I hope so!!! That was really scary and set me back in my semester. Thankfully I had really great Methods teachers who were very understanding and made me feel better about everything! They were so helpful. I couldn't have asked for more understanding teachers.

Unfortunately, I did have to drop my two English classes but that turned out to be ok too. As it turned out, I wasn't going to be able to student teach in both English and History and in order to teach a subject in Texas, all you have to do is be certified in one area, and take the competency exam in whatever you wish. In other words, once I pass my PPR and competency exam for History, I can take the English certification test and be certified that way. So my English work was really just extra work that I didn't need and once my semester got so hectic and crazy, they were the obvious classes to get rid of since they were essentially just electives at this point. I've been told that it will be a good thing to have so many hours of English to support my certification anyway so, there ya go.

In other news, my dad is doing amazingly well. I haven't seen him this well in several years! He is walking around without his walker at times, although he keeps it close by just in case, and he even went down about 12 steps at a restaurant we went to last week! It brought tears to my eyes. He's lost so much weight that he could not only fit into his suits for church again, he had to get new ones because the old ones were too big!!! I cannot express how proud I am of him. He was depressed for a very long time. It's amazing to see how well he can do when he is thinking positively. Also, the new neurologist he is seeing has taken him off of a lot of medications that he didn't need anymore which helps him stay awake and keeps his mind more focused. We all went last weekend to Austin for Littlevine's annual meeting and having my dad there was so uplifting. God has blessed us so much, my heart is overflowing with gratitude! My father and I have had some really hard times together and now I feel as if God has given us a new beginning, a rebirth really. We have so much to be thankful for. I know to some walking down a few steps is absolutely nothing and having your father go to a church meeting with you is usual, but for us, it is a miracle! Praise God!

In regards to my Mema, she is really about the same. She was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, which, ok, means she isn't the same but really she's is as good as can be expected at this point. My mom continuously has to remind her to wear her oxygen and has to keep her from eating too many bananas in one day but all of that is usual. She isn't in the hospital so she's doing ok. :o)

So now I am on summer break and am so glad! No school this summer except an online class and I'll just basically be working back at the pre-school. I started back yesterday as a sub until June 1st and then I'll be a full-time teacher for Friendship Club/Camp Sonlight- our summer day camp. That means I'll get to go on field trips to the movies and the splash pad, the Oil Ranch in Hockley, and the Waco Zoo!!! It's going to be a busy but fun summer! And one of the best parts is that I will be co-teaching with my friend Anesha who was my first friend at the pre-school when I started in 2002. We go way back!

In summation, family is good, methods is over, job in place which means money and fun, and student teaching at Brenham will begin in August, and finally in December -- GRADUATION!!!! Woohoo!!!!!