A Different Perspective

Mike wrote about my birthday and his perspective is hilarious. For his birthday this year, we went to Mi Cocina and jack threw up about ten minutes into the meal. So, his perspective on my birthday is funny. Here is the link to his website. http://butthesegoto11.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday, Me!

Today I am thirty-two years old. YIKES! And I thought twenty-six was hard. My family got together in southlake for my birthday. And Jackson said, Happy Birthday, Jodi. That is hilarious. Molly just yelled at me to hurry up with her milk bottle. My mom and dad wrote me a card that is one of the kindest cards I ever got. Plus CASH. Cody and Nicole bought me a couple of shirts at forever twenty one and a pair of groovy earrings. And Mike bought me some new clothes! We each split one slice of cheese cake at the cheesecake factory. It has been a good birthday so far.

13 Job's I've Done

Being a stay at home mom, some days I remember back to jobs I've done for money through high school, college and beyond. What have been your favorite/unfavorable jobs?

1. The first real job I had, discounting lemonade stands, was working in a food booth at First Monday Trade Days in Bowie, Texas. (Think Canton, but much smaller). I worked for a Mexican Food restaurant in a trailer called 'Margaritaville'. I did this job one weekend a month for four years. I started out just preparing food, and eventually, I got to do all the jobs in the trailer; Chopping tomatoes, cleaning outside tables, bleaching the floors, filling napkin holders making lemonade, frying hamburgers, serving ice cream, preparing and selling sausage on a sticks outside. I ended up making 120 dollars a weekend, not bad money for a 17 year old. The downside to this job was that I always smelled like food, and I had to work on the weekend. Also, the restrooms were shared with the whole Trade Days, and the toilets were primitive. My first bosses were the Buffalo's.

2. Babysitting; this was the job I hated.

3. Waitress at Loyd Ray's Cajun Food in Bowie, Texas.

4. Clerked the night shift at Allsups convenience store. I cleaned the bathrooms and the whole store, checked the fuel tanks, washed the sidewalks, and took any orders for food during that time. It was probably pretty dangerous, but I made over a thousand dollars that summer before I went to ACU. I'm betting I am the only entering freshmen girl in the class of '96 who worked the night shift at a convenience store. The good thing about this job was I got to make fresh fried burritos and apple crisps for my brother and his friends. Also, an ex-convict taught me how to mop properly...priceless! The first night I worked there, the electricity shut off and a trucker shined his lights in for thirty minutes while we waited for the electricity to come back on. There is no doubt that God took good care of me during this time.

5. Worked as a transcriptionist for a very wealthy man in Post transcribing the trips he took around the world. He went on extravagant vacations where naturalist from all around the world would go and give lecturers about the indigenous people, plant life and animal life. Sometimes this was boring, but it beat Allsups and I got to visit via his lectures the whole danged world. He always brought back neat souvenirs that he placed in a museum in Post. His fabrige egg collection rivals the one at the Smithsonian. If you ever go through Post, stop at his museum. Around Christmas, he has a nativity collection that is amazing. Nativity sets from all over the world! I did this job for five years during the summers at ACU.

6. News pages editor for the Optimist. I left journalism after working until 3 a.m. two nights a week to meet our deadlines.(I was offered an internship with a newspaper in Chicago for the following year, but I realized this job was not for me after Wayne Barnard accused me of fabricating a story about him. I called his home and spoke with him while he had the flu. Either he was pissed of just forgot. I swear I spoke to him, and I think my professor believed me because he didn't fail me like he said he was going to.

7. 1st grade teacher at Mission West Elementary. I started my job in January. I was their4th teacher for the year. God blessed my work with these children, and I loved them like my own. By the end of the year, I had the best behaved class in the whole first grade, and I was voted first year teacher of the year! God provided in me love I never imagined possible. Not that I didn't make a ton of mistakes; just that the children were beautiful to me. I actually miss them!

8. 3rd grade teacher at Mission West Elementary. Again, I had the best class in the whole school. I sincerely adored these children. But, Mike got a new job in Arlington, TX and I had to leave them.

9. ESL teacher at Ashworth Elementary in AISD. God blessed me again by providing work in January when no one thought I'd be hired. I loved my students. In November, we had a culture day where all my different students brought food from their countries. WE had food from Mexico, Guatemala, India, Pakistan, Persia, and all over the world.

10. 3rd grade teacher at Ashworth Elementary. This year was full of trials for me, and I quit at the end of the year, vowing never to teach elementary school again. It was this year I came to hate the TAKS test and the stress it put on my students and me. If I hear one more politician speak about holding teachers accountable, I will personally lead a teacher revolt! It was this year when I also began to suspect that George Bush didn't know squat about education. (Sorry to my republican friends, but Bush's No Child Left Behind initiative shows a serious lack of understanding of children, the major role parents play, and the educational process. TAKS has become a worksheet creating monster that is killing creativity in our classrooms. I am seriously considering private school to escape testing for my children.)

10. Worked in an after school program at Shakelford Junior High called Girl's Inc. and as a substitute teacher for AISD. I had to do these jobs because I saved over 7 thousand dollars to go back to school to get a journalism degree. That money went to housing repairs on a retaining wall at our house. When I failed to register for classes on time at UTA, the only classes that were available were English classes. (No journalism classes were available). God blessed my life so much through this mistake because I realized I had a huge passion for English thanks to great profs like Dr. Lacy, Dr. Alaimo, and Dr. Estes. I also subbed in a high school English class at Lamar, and I told God that I loved it.

11. 9th and 10th grade English teacher at Lamar! My favorite job yet. I worked hard to create excellent and educated writers who really loved writing. The TAKS wasn't so scary to me. I had kids that failed, but in high school, it isn't as big of a deal. I was held accountable for teaching the material, and the students (gasp) were held accountable for learning it. I felt backed up by other teachers and previous teachers. I loved this job! I swore I'd never leave it. God even blessed me with a window in my classroom, something I prayed fervently for every day I taught. I told God I would never leave my classroom that looked out over the butterfly garden at Lamar, and then...

12. I got pregnant and had Jackson. I decided I'd never leave him in a daycare while he was so helpless. So, we were poor and decided to give our finances to God, and he has blessed us for it. So my twelfth job is a stay at home mom who is...

13. Working toward an MA in English, so I can either teach high school or college English.

My heart is full of gratitude to God, who provides salvation for us. But, as if that isn't enough, he blesses our lives with the opportunity to work. Thanks to God, who gives us the ability to work. Because of my jobs at Allsups and Margaritaville, I have a lot of sympathy for those who have not received educations and the hard work they have to do. One of the ladies I worked with at Allsups had to pay for daycare for her child out of the money she earned at Allsups. Life certainly isn't easy in a situation like that. Thank you God for opening my eyes to your glory and wisdom through the jobs I've done.

What jobs have you done that you liked or hated?

Jodi And The Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Zoo Day

Yesterday was crappy. No way around it; it stunk! Sometimes, it feels like everything in the world is conspiring against you just to watch you twist on a hot tin roof. Life remembers the words you say, and it likes to throw them back in your face sometimes. Those lessons are so hard. I know it may sound paranoid to view life this way, but I'll go on the assumption that most of you have felt that way before. Listen to my day. We arrived at the zoo, ran into some friends from church, so far, so good. Jackson begins whimpering that he wants to ride the train, so off we go to catch the zoo train. As I pull up, the cute little girl behind the counter informs me the train is leaving; the train, evidently, waits for no one, especially a sippy cup juggling mom of two with a complicated to close up double stroller. I tell her this is not a problem. I will purchase my round trip ticket and race the train on foot to the next boarding station. I give her a twenty. Problems begin. She has to count and recount the change, and when I attempt to leave, she asks if I got the correct change. I smile encouragingly; I am no math whiz myself. Yes you did, I tell her. We swiftly turn around and head out to race the train to the next station. Jackson looses a shoe. I stop to put the shoe on its proper foot. The whimpering continues. No shoe on the foot. It hurts, owie, owie, owie. I smile, only a little perturbed, and shove his sweet little foot into the shoe. We are off again to race the train! I am in a walking zone. My double stroller is a jogging stroller, and it moves with great ease. I dream of walking myself into the perfect size ten jeans. I am poolside by the Bellagio, and the cabana boy is oogling me. Who would ever guess I am the mom of two? The mom of two behind me who has retrieved Molly's shoe, that's who. End of daydream, enter cold hard reality in the shape of my daughter's bare foot. I offer my gratitude to the mom who unselfishly bent down to pick it up. Really, as a mom I know I have passed over socks, shoes and all sorts of things at the zoo. The last time we lost a shoe at the zoo (yes, it has happened before), I felt so trashy with Molly in her bare feet. I try to cram Molly's sweet little foot into the sandal, only slightly more perturbed than before. And we are off. We arrive at the station, and the train is already there. We were no where close to beating it, but I show my pass to the sweet girl behind the counter, who informs me the train is broken, and will be down for a few hours. Jack begins to wail. I want to ride the train. I want to ride the train. I inquire about the carousel. It, too, is broken it seems. I am feeling more than a little irked. A mechanical looking man informs me it will only be broken a while. Great, it is almost lunch time. We head to the barn first, and then to lunch. My fabulous double jogging stroller that moves so quickly has one main drawback; it's width. I try not to hold this against the stroller as I am currently suffering similar a similar problem. So, when I try to enter the restaurant, I become stuck and have to jiggle the stroller to get it in the door. While the stroller jiggles, Jack yells, and I realize he has almost fallen out. Other mom begin to glower. Finally, the stroller fits through the door. After I get my food and As I pay out, the man behind me begins to push while I am locating my credit card and instructing Jackson and Molly to stay seated in the stroller. Molly stands up over and over, forcing me to lock her in the stroller. When I finally get my receipt, I am almost outside from the pushing man. I think about shoving my stroller the opposite way into him and his tray, but decide to take the high road. Did Jesus ever shove back? What would my children think if I instigate a fight with a grown man. I breathe deeply and move to the closest table. Eating commences, while I try to feed my brood and me. Lunch is over in five minutes, and Jackson slips out of chair to inquire about the train ride. We encounter the same width stroller problem leaving, only this time, with no one watching, I master it beautifully. Of course. The train, I am informed by a cute girl with a mouth full of lunch, is still broken. As is the carousel. Molly begins to wail. She is tired, has not had a nap, and is on the verge of a breakdown. I shove a pouch of cheetos at her, and that does the trick. I vow to find something the kids can enjoy before we leave the zoo. Jackson finds a picture booth. He wants us to take a picture. Great idea as I have taken the time that morning to apply mascara. I snatch the cheetos away from Molly, which makes her wail, locate a wipe to clean her face which also makes her scream, and enter the booth. I read the sign that states the picture booth is out of film. We have to leave. I am beginning to curse underneath my breath. I load the kids up and we leave the zoo. I ask Jack if he has to pee before we go, and he does not. I go through the whole process of loading up the kids, to only see Jack grab his wiener and anybody can understand what that means. I take him to the side of the car to pee. I have no other option. He cannot wait five minutes for us to walk back to the restroom and Molly is already in her car seat. I don't have a potty in my car. I tell him to tee tee on the cigarette, thinking if someone can smoke and throw out a cigarette, my son can pee on it. I have taken the time to shield him from view, although it probably doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what we are up to. Not even a rocket scientist, or zoo patrol, who come driving up on the situation. I have never seen them before, but there they are. Luckily, they pay no attention to the mom of two loading her car. Thank the Lord for small miracles.
Molly falls fast asleep on the way home. Jack does not. He has decided to be no nap Jack today. Fast forward to home, an hour of Thomas videos and me trying not to pass out on the sofa. We rewatch the Thomas song so I can learn it. Molly wakes up and we go upstairs. Jack is getting that funny look, that poopoo look, so I put him on the potty. He informs me, I no go potty, the poopoo won't come out. It's not coming out mommy. Okay. Fine. I am not going to potty train him at gun point, I am not one of those moms who potty trains like a drill sergeant. Five minutes later, Jack informs me he has gone in his pants. No problem. Accidents happen. I clean him up, sit him on the potty and ask him if he needs to go more. He tells me no. So I put on clean underwear. While Molly wails because I have had to go downstairs. Momma, Momma, Momma, she screams. It happens again. More Poo. I yell. I admit it. Come on, he is obviously doing this on purpose! Right? Get me the water gun. I am going to potty train him at gunpoint. Seriously, there is a potty training boot camp, right? After he is clean, he and Molly begin to fight over Bertie the Bus. Molly says No, no, no, no, to Jack. Jack wrestles Molly to the ground, and I separate them. Molly yells at me for giving Bertie back to Jack. Jack turns on the tv, and I begin to cry. Jackson comes and gives me a kiss with Bertie in his hands. Bertie is a moving train, and I feel my hair being pulled. My hair has gotten caught in Bertie's wheel. I laugh. And Laugh. And grab a pair of scissors. What else can I do? The joke is on me.
You see, before I had children or even intended to have children, I used to muse to Mike about what stay at home mom's did all day. What a life, I thought. Take your kids to the zoo, the museum, fry a couple of pancakes. What's the big deal? And now I know. Life is having a good time with me!

Jack's First Simile

Okay. You read that right. Not smile, but simile. Anyone who knows me knows I am a total English nerd. So, I have to document my son's first use of figurative language. What makes human language so profound is our ability to use language to express emotions by creating connections between how we feel and the world around us. Jack is obsessed with Thomas the Train. He loves it. We watch Thomas videos, read Thomas books, wear Thomas underwear and t-shirts. So, when I ask how he was feeling, he said he was happy like James (James the red engine). That was awesome. He has also been creating stories with his trains, introducing them to each other, creating problems for them to work through. (Cranky the Crane has a bad habit of magnetically capturing the trains to interrupt their deliveries and services). He even adds narrative endings like 'cried thomas' or 'cried henry'. It is so cute. He told me the other day he had to leave to go to work to help out the controller. He drove Henry through chocolate icing with my brother Cody, and his wife, Nicole at my mom's birthday party. (He thinks they are the coolest!) He also placed Bertie the Bus right in the middle of Nana's cake, but that's a whole other blog. In the mean time, may you all be as happy as James.

Funny VBS story

Because of VBS, Mike and I were comparing VBS stories. I think I have the funniest VBS story out there. See if you can top this one.
As some of you know, I grew up in a series of small towns. My dad was a small town school superintendent, which is something like growing up a preacher's kid except better in some ways (I always knew before school was cancelled), and worse in some ways (my dad was in charge of the largest employment center for miles around...i have many fun stories to relate later). One thing I discovered at a young age was the joy and consequences of catching people off balance. As with preacher's kids, many people had preconceived notions about me. Some of them were true, but I tried my best to prove them wrong. Even at the age of five.
We have always been Church of Christ. Which is good, because in Texas, every small town in the state has two churches, usually a Baptist Church and a Church of Christ, sometimes, if the town was big enough, maybe a Methodist church. Anyway, the first year my dad was Superitendent in Paradise Texas (think Blue Bell commercial), the Baptist church had their VBS. My parents couldn't wait to send me to show off my substantial Biblical knowledge. They had worked and worked with me since I was little. My mom taught all my classes, teaching intricate details and lessons about everything. So, off I went to the Baptist VBS sans my parents. They also wanted to show they trusted the people there, I guess. Who knows why, but I was off to Baptist VBS without them. As soon as we got there, I asked to go to the bathroom, and I was accompanied by two teenage girls. I walked into the bathroom, kicked open one of the bathroom doors, and shouted, "Is anyone in these damned stalls?" Silence filled the bathroom, followed by gasps. "We are telling on you," they shouted in singsong chorus. I think I was immediately sent home for polluting the Baptist Restrooms with foul language, because I don't recall anything about the subsequent VBS. I do remember a lecture from my mom about good and bad words, and when not to use such terms. Such as, church, VBS, and any time! I didn't get a spanking, because I cried so hard and felt so bad. But, I have never been invited back to another Baptist VBS. I am thankful Paige even let me participate in this one! So, that's my funny VBS story. Do any of you guys have any funny stories like that?

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope everyone gets to enjoy the fourth of July with family and friends. I used to think it was a not a big deal, just another reason to shoot fireworks and eat hot dogs. Then, Mike and I went to Europe over the fourth, and no one even mentioned that it was America's birthday. There were no American flags (duh, I know, we were in a different country), no patriotic marches, no fireworks. I loved our trip to Europe, but I was really homesick on the fourth, and I was glad to be home. Can you imagine not celebrating the fourth of July? It was strange. This fourth, we will be in Granbury with my family. My favorite memory of the fourth of July was in Post, Texas, when some friends of my parents and their kids (around our age, we must have been 20 or 21) came over and we just shot off fireworks. I know it doesn't sound like that great of a time, but the weather in Post in the summer is hot, but it cools way down at night, so it was a little cool, and as usual, no clouds in sight. It was a great summer evening. What is your favorite fourth of July memory? Anyway, I'm posting a link to fireworks, just in case you aren't able to see any this holiday. Happy Fourth of July!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5zQeZeqjhQ&mode=related&search=fireworks

GOAL!!!!!!

Okay, this isn't really about soccer, but I have watched on purpose more world cup soccer than I have of any other sport, and I've decided I like it. So, I wrote Goal because I just finished my paper and test. So GOAL for me! I have had a relaxing weekend. Some friends from church and I went to see The Devil Wear's Prada. I was so glad I could go because I didn't know if Mike would get home early from work. He got home just in time and he made me go. I don't mean to brag, but listen to this girls. He watched the kids Thursday and Friday night, and this morning, he took Jack and Molly to the science museum and then to my parents for the whole day so I could finish my papers! YAY!!!! I have had a nice long break. It has been great. I had a blast eating out on Friday night at LaMadeline! (Go FRUIT TARTS!) and seeing a super cute movie. And today, I got to just sit and think and write. One of my favorite things. Now, tomorrow, I get to go to church with my family and teach all the sweet babies in cradle roll. What a good weekend. What a good life. There is no doubt that I, as with all my friends who read my blog, have a lot to be thankful for. I am thankful for my church family, which is a wellspring of friendships and acceptance... friends like Paige, Kelli, Denise, Angie, Jami, Kim Q.(new friend!), Mandi and Lynley. I am thankful for my family, who always help me take care of Jack and Molly. (thanks mom, dady, cody and nicole!).I am thankful for my precious children, Jack and Molly, and for their daddy, who is so thoughtful and kind. I am thankful for so many things. Even when things seem bad, and even though we have been sickly, I feel gratitude to God. I am glad I get to take classes, that I have old friends like my cousin Cathie, who I have known forever (since we were born). I couldn't possibly begin to list all of my blessings. Just let it be sufficient to say THANK YOU, LORD!
Now, maybe I can catch the end of the Portugal England game.