First Day

Okay, iamgine a s bad scene out of a movie...a comedy movie...like maybe Airplane! or something...First of all, it took me an hour and forty minutes jsut to get to the Friday Center parking lot. So, naturally, I was about 10 or so minutes late to my first class-not good. Now, picture this, I am out of breath from walking across campus 9not too hard to believe) and going up a flight of stairs. I am in the stairwell, trying to catch my breath, when some young dude, opens the door for me, as if he sensed I needed some help. So, I find that my classroom door is the first one I see-and it's closed. I gently open it to find 49 people look up at me. I silenced the room! People were going around making their introductions. I look for a seat. There is one left-0first row, all the way in the back. I realize I must take off my backpack, to fit my wide load (my butt and my backpack) through the skinny aisle. As I reach for it, both bags just fall straight to the floor-THUD!! And then the straps fall out of my reach, so I have to bend over and then there flies out a "mmphh" (Jesus, could it get any worse, really?) I manage to pick them up, feeling red and hot, and trudge to my seat. By the time they get to me to say my introduction, I am still out of breath. Alright, the worst must be over. Then the teacher speaks. CANNOT UNDERSTAND HIS ENGLISH ONE BIT!! Great! A whole semester of this! He starts notes on the board-the chalk whistles, and apparently he does not notice or it doesn't bother him, because it does it for the rest of the class period.
OKay, next up...French class. I was ready for the teach to come bounding in speaking French and at some point speak some English to at least go over rules. And that was pretty much how it went. What I did not expect was this (this is an ELEMENTARY FRENCH class-one for people who have never taken French or who have not had much experience)....she sais to us "All class periods will be spoken entirely in French. If you speak English, your participation grade will go down. (she goes over the syllabus and course information), then..."Does anyone have any questions about the class? This is the last itme you will ever be able to speak English". God, help me! I mean, what happens to "aller, means to go" instead it's just "allez" and you figure it out yourself:) And she is my only American teacher so far!
Next up....introduction to programming!

Jitters

Okay, yesterday, I took the French placement test and let's just say I need to brush up on my parlez-vous francais! I would recognize words here and there, but embarassingly enough, I turned in the test about 40 minutes early (I was the first one to turn it in) and I left it more than half blank! Not good. But she said the elementary class is jsut that-elementary, so that will be okay, but now i have to drive an hour for one class every Thursday! Yuck! So, then I walk over to the DOT of campus (public safety and transportation) and wait in line over an hour to renew my park and ride pass. The ladies were very friendly though and that made it better.
So, by now it's nearly 6 and I am walking back to the Ramshead deck to leave. I walk past Morirson dorm and as I round the corner, the stadium in the distance, I see nothing but a sea full of 19-20 year olds covered in blue, gathering, talking and getting pumped up for whatever-I think a band was going to play. I felt sooooo out of place on that campus the ENTIRE time! I still have yet to see anyone even close to my age. Do they even have non-traditional students? I feel like a prune in a field of strawberries. Or, blueberries, I guess. I totally do not belong. If I make it through this trek, I will be more proud that I made it socially and emotionally, not academically.
I'm paralyzed at that place. Wake Tech had 5 buildings and no one lived there. This place is smaller than NCSU, but it still feels huge. I knew it would be a different animal, but the people are different. And that is what is most difficult. I see nothing but cell phones and hear the word "like" a whole lot:) I just want this first week to be over!

Recovery period...

Well, after 8 miles of truding through low-level waters of the New River, my arms were sore, as was my back! Being 35 is fun! Four days of camping and drinking can make a girl very tired:) And really, the last night, everyone was too tired and sore to drink anyway-guess we are all getting old!

So, back to the real world again. Pics are psoted on the shady shack blog.

Good news: We close on the 26th and driveway work begins that week!

Bad news: OUr A/C is not working

Good news: It's not that hot

Better news: I joined facebook........dear Lord, I am addicted!! I am finding people on there I have not talked to in over 15 years!!!!!

Shady Shack-Here we come!!!!!!!!!!

Four days of being in the middle of nowhere.......no cell phone service.......just a few friends hanging out around a campfire.......kayaking down the river..........and having a great time!!!!!!

www.shadyshack.blogspot.com

Mitch, my hat is off to you for keeping the tradition going now for ten years! (Now let's work on that beach trip!)

Ten Years together!

Happy anniversary Chad! Ten lovely years together-they have flown by!!!!!!!!

Chad and I met each other on Thursday, January 13th, 1994. I had gone to Granville Towers (a UNC dorm) with my new Peace College roomie, Catherine Lamm. Chad was the quiet one in the corner, deejaying the music. It took a bit for him to talk, but eventually we were dancing together in the dorm and by the time we took off to see Sex Police (a band), we were holding hands like we had been dating for months. Two weeks later, on a Friday night (January 29th), we established we were dating. Oh, and I forgot to tell the part about when his good friend, Steven Stewart, told me he thought Chad was interested, I went running down my dorm room hall and actually got int trouble by my RA, for being too loud and disruptive (imagine!:>). Then came four and a half years of on-and-off dating, and carrying on an LDR. We had good times and bad, like any couple.

ON July 11, 1998, we tied the knot at 3pm, at First Baptist Church, in Wilson, NC. After a honeymoon trip to Florida, we moved into an apratment together. We bought our dog Scooby in August of 2000, and two months later, moved into our home in Willow Springs, where we still reside. On Febuary 11th, we bought Graham and Sydney into the world and we have all lived happily ever since!

So, this past week, we did something to commemorate our lives together. They are mostly used in weddings, but we just did a casual thing at the dining room table. It's called sand unity. People are replacing unity candles with vases of sand, where they combine different colors to represent each other.

So, here is ours:

The dark brown represents Chad, the lighter color is me. Then we blended the two to represent our marriage. Then came blue (for Graham), then pink (for Sydney), and then we all poured our sand in together to represent us as a family. The kids also made their own separate bottles to keep in their rooms.

Thank you to our families and loved ones, who have supported us through the years.

We love you~