Whirlwind

I'd like to offer a public apology to all my fans out there (Casie) who have missed me (Casie) and the entertainment value I provide through my blogs every week (Casie). Ha...

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind. Literally. Jenette, Ethan, and beautiful baby Kara visiting, a sudden, tragic funeral six hours away in South Georgia, the "final countdown" week before spring break, our 5th wedding anniversary, and a seven day cruise (eight days total away from home) to end it all. Wow. However, no complaints here; Jon and I seemed to weather everything just fine. We didn't even argue that much; funny how in times when situations seem to be spinning faster than they should Jon and I seem to metaphorically "ride the ride" and not even manage to get sick!

Here's how things panned out...

Mon. 4/2: Praying for the week to go by fast just seems to make God slow things down more and put me in my respective place. Which is OUT of the driver's seat. No matter how fast you wish for vacation to come, you can't grease the wheels and make time go faster. That time thing... I planned on wishing the week away, had my schedule full of last minute "finish-before-spring-break" assignments and what not, for each class. Granted, every class worked hard, each finishing an in-class essay (now I have 116 papers to grade in my famous "green bucket for papers to grade"), finishing another unit, and starting a segue into the last unit for the semester and testing skills review. Yet...alas, you just can't rush authentic learning. I know this; I don't know why I try to do this same thing over and over every year. It's just that a break just looks so enticing, and tying up loose ends seems to be part of the package. I fully expect, however, to come back tomorrow, say to 2nd block, "I'll be finishing up your essays this week," and have a blank stare from 29 faces come back at me. I don't blame them, it DOES seem like it's been forever in just the past two weeks. Jenette, Ethan, and Kara, who have been in B-ville for the past week, stayed with us again tonight before heading on their way to South Carolina Tuesday. Thank you, "Pantless Jedi" for not unleashing your wrath upon me and my infantile knowledge of THE FORCE.

Tues. 4/3: At 8:50 am Tuesday, tragedy struck. La was in my room while 1st block finished up the film "A Time to Kill" and her dad called with bad news. Brandy (Dyer) Zipperer, who graduated a year after me, whom I had played softball with for 12 years, passed away early Tuesday morning from a blood clot on her brain stem. Wow. She was 28. My age. Suddenly the surreal becomes all too real. She had a three-year-old and a husband. Her younger brother, Ben (who called to wish me happy birthday while I was writing this), is almost literally my adopted brother. He's a permanent fixture in the family, one of my brother's best friends, and comic relief, encouragement, and positive energy to anyone who needs it. Funeral plans begin.

Wed. 4/4-Thurs. 4/5: The natives were getting really restless at UCHS. Can you blame them? I think I acted just about as rebellious and silly as they did. Of course, while sporting a facade of utmost professionality. Ha... Since Brandy lived in Rincon, GA (20 minutes north of Savannah), the funeral will be held there. I spent most of Wednesday and Thursday on the phone with countless people from high school, some of whom I haven't talked to in years. Funny how a funeral can bring people together. Brandy's mom wanted all us girls who played softball with her to be pall bearers, so Jon and I changed our plans and decided to drive down to Savannah Friday for the funeral, then take the two hour drive up I-95 straight into Charleston, the port where our cruise leaves from Saturday afternoon. Time to pack and clean the house--a day earlier than I planned!

Fri. 4/6: We left at 8:15 am for Savannah, with the Mapquest directions telling us it's a 6-hour drive to Rincon. Well, Jon and I were in the parking lot of the church at 1pm. Gotta love Georgia drivers. :) We made great time, no traffic through downtown ATL, no cops, no stops for gas til right outside of Macon. At the funeral, there were more than 100 people in attendance from Blairsville. Brandy was loved. I served as an honorary pall bearer. When I got back into the car after attending the gravesite, I was forced to finally realize my vacation was about to start. Not a good segue; funeral to vacation. Here I was, all week trying to rush myself into "vacation mode," then when it was finally time to live it, I just couldn't summon the energy to care. Who would've ever thought, just a week earlier, that we'd all be gathering to pay final respects to a friend? But I will see Brandy again someday, both of us have hope that rests in Christ, what a comfort!

Oh yeah, happy 5th anniversary April and Jon. Yay! We celebrated by going to a Red Lobster in Charleston Friday night and staying in a nice suite at a HAMPTON INN. Oh yeah, baby! We're livin' large! I think be both fell asleep after watching The Sound Of Music on TNT. We're an inspiring couple. I love you, Jon. I'd rather be with you in times like these than anyone else in the world.

Sat. 4/7-Sat. 4/14: Yeah, well, the rest is history. Last week was utterly stellar. (Ok, I'm reaching for adjectives now, I know...) We spent the week sleeping, EATING, walking around and making fun of other people's idiosyncracies, me reading an ENTIRE BOOK FOR PLEASURE WITHOUT INTERRUPTION BY EDUCATIONAL PROPAGANDA AND INFO (Cold Mountain, LOVED the beauty in Frazier's language, HATED the sniper rifle ending, pardon the pun), EATING, sleeping more, shopping, EATING, and running up a pretty hefty bar tab. And, thankfully, I did not see even one of my students; several were on ships from other cruiselines going to the same destinations we visited. (There was another couple from B-ville on our cruise, an optometrist and his wife, but we didn't know they were on the ship til later on. The man's name is JoHn too, and he won a raffle which made my JoN ill because they came on the intercom and said, "The winner is JoHn from Blairsville, JoHn Mark Turner!") I loved the Grand Caymans for the shopping, friendly people, and the coolest Margaritaville ever! Key West is an awesome place to people-watch, plus being absolutely beautiful on the residential streets. We took a tour of the Tulum Mayan ruins in Mexico, sailed into Playa del Carmen from Cozumel, and rode an hour down the Mayan Riviera. I could talk all day about the trip. But I digress...

Vacation endings are bittersweet, you know. I'm always glad to be back home--especially after spending it all week in a cabin about 120 feet-square with my beloved hubby--but I'm apprehensive about going back to my obsessive self. I've already put about 12 things on my to-do list for the week. Oh, a week that's only THREE days long because Wednesday at 10pm, I leave for DISNEY and EPCOT! I'm either fearless or a glutton for punishment (maybe both) because I do it again in two weekends with the senior class for their Disney trip. Good Lord. At least this is the chorus, a good group of kids, AND, I'm skipping out on prom duty this weekend, to boot! That's a pretty good trade-off. I am still very very anti-prom after last year's fiasco. Don't get me started on that...

And here I sit Sunday night. A little poorer, a little more tan, a LOT colder. Sporting one new tattoo from Grand Cayman. Not a tacky, flashy one. It's tasteful and I can cover it up so the kiddies don't see it--though two or three already know I have one; I got several text messages while I was in Key West interrogating me about my doings. Nosy kids, gotta love'm. Thus the cycle begins again. (Actually, I had already made a "to-do list" for today and tomorrow yesterday as we were waiting to disembark the ship--yes, I'm sad, I know). And today is my 29th birthday. How thoroughly anti-climactic. At least I have my taxes done. : ) And it's been SNOWING all day. I'm sorry, but what the CRAP? We've went from 95-degrees on Wednesday and a great tan, back to rain, sleet, snow and 31 degrees today. I think I lost part of my tan just coming back to this weather. Nah, it's not that bad. Gotta love the curve balls the weather throws at you; or at least a "Noreaster" or whatever they're calling this storm front. It makes life interesting.

I'll sign off now. Tune in later for pictures. Maybe I'll figure out how to post them from this dang Imac. We shall see...