A 1800's social movement, not a baby's name

“Every child begins the world again.”
-Henry David Thoreau

Temperance Cael. That’s the name of my husband’s cousin’s new baby. You think I’m kidding. Oh how I wish! I can’t even think it, much less say it without literally laughing out loud.

It seems to me that if you choose to raise a child against all the odds, you’d at least give the poor baby a normal name to give her a fighting chance.

Rob’s opinion… they should ask you your top three name choices in the hospital, and if they don’t make the cut… then you don’t get to take the baby home. That might solve a lot of the world's problems.

Our new nest

“A house is a home when it shelters the body and comforts the soul.”
-Phillip Moffitt

After the longest closing in my history (granted, this is the only one I’ve been to!), Rob and I are now homeowners. More pics and projects to follow in the next few weeks, but I left the camera at home today.

oh the excitement

"An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality; our desires being often but precursors of the things which we are capable of performing."
-Samuel Smiles

Tomorrow's the big day! Tomorrow at one o'clock to be exact!!

Here a quirk, there a quirk

“Quirky is sexy, like scars or chipped teeth. I also like tattoos - they're rebellious.”
-Jennifer Aniston

He’s got some quirks. Some are easier to overlook than others. In fact, some are quite endearing.

On Friday, my fish Scooter died. It had been a long time coming, but I told Rob over the phone in our nightly “I’m headed home” call that I would need him to dump him in the toilet. I just couldn’t do that. So when he got home, he told me he had to make a secret phone call and went outside. I was confused, but whatever… When he came back in, he handed me the phone—he had gotten his friend Mark to play “Taps” on the trumpet as we flushed Scooter away to his home in the sky.

Then later in the night, he asked to help me as I collected No. 2 pencils and erasers for my teaching certification test the next morning. We sat down on the couch as we went through our pencil box, carefully weighing the pros and cons of each style and brand. I walked away with four different pencils: one of which was stolen in Rob’s junior high brush with the “law” and one which advertised Paula’s Educational Store in Shreveport. Keeping my fingers crossed that they were lucky!!

A little bit of "outgoing" showing through

“Guys don't expect you to be as ambitious and outgoing as I am.”
-Ebele Ifedigbo

In real life…. I’m usually quiet. I’d rather listen than talk. I hate crowds. Sometimes I get tongue-tied. I’ve been known to be a wallflower at social events. There is nothing I hate worse than confrontation. You could call me an introvert.

However, sometimes I surprise even myself. Yesterday evening I went to an information session about alternative routes to teacher certification. It was very informative and the speakers were very enthusiastic about new teachers (btw… enthusiasm/enthusiastic are my favorite words this week!) I had a list of questions that I needed answered, and I was the first one in the group to break the ice and start asking questions. I was the first to introduce myself and tell my background story, which set the tone for everyone else.

If you were at that meeting yesterday, you would have thought I was an extrovert.

Oh, and by the way… the meeting itself was awesome and confirmed once again that teaching is the right path for me to be on.