Memphis in May

May has been one busy month for Randy and I here in Memphis!

He finished his first year of dental school pretty early, and the first picture is of him and his friend Josh.  Josh is a D1 too who happens to live in the Estates and whose wife happens to be a Shelby County teacher...needless to say, they have become good friends.  I have had a rollercoaster ride this month with my job as a teacher.  First of all I didn't know what next year would hold and had to go through transfer applications and interviews.  I am still not out of options completely, but it looks as though I will be doing the same thing next year (that is, traveling between two different middle schools each week).  It took a LOT of patience, trust, and faith in God that His will would be done for my job.  I might not be happy with the outcome, but at least I know that it was prayed about and that it is where I am meant to be.  For those of you who don't know, I interviewed for a full time position at the one school that I have had trouble with this year.  All through the interview I wondered if I even wanted or could handle the job, but hearing that it was given to someone else was a hard thing to hear.  No one ever likes to fail at something, regardless if it is the "best" thing or not.  Now that it is over I can honestly say that it was an answer to my prayers.  I am still waiting to hear if a full-time position opens up at Arlington, the school that I would love to be at (and who would love to have a job available for me).  Until now, it's all about faith...

Well, May has apparently always been a damp and soggy month, and this year has been no exception.  The Music Festival was at the beginning of the month and my sister and brother-in-law came in town for the long line-up of bands.  Unfortunately, it rained non-stop Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  It was still great to see family and spend time with them, and the rain was actually kind of fun...except for the fact that Sunday was not only rainy but cold.  Until this year, I do not think I have ever drunk hot chocolate in May.  With all the rain came a flooded Mississippi, which most of the pictures show above.  Randy and I live on Mud "Island" which is technically not an island but along the Mighty Mississippi River.  In the pictures, look at the trees in the water because those trees are normally way up on shore with benches underneath the shade of the tree.  Randy got curious about the depth and strength of the river and waded out one afternoon...thankfully, he didn't get washed down the Gulf.

This past weekend, Randy went to Cincinnati for a friend's wedding (and of course Reds games) and then also got to help his brother and sister-in-law move into their new home in Louisville.  To keep me company, my bestest friend and big sister came to Memphis.  We had so much fun just sitting around and talking..and eating.  On Saturday we took a fancy picnic to the Sunset Symphony, which unfortunately was also soggy.  It never rained during the show (a plus) but the ground was wet and it kinda smelled.  Still, it was a very neat experience to sit on the river and listen to a symphony...and we also heard the oldies band Three Dog Night ("Joooy to the world, all the boys and girls, Joy to the fishies in the deep blue sea, Joy to you and Me").  The night was perfectly topped off with fireworks, and Joda and I went and got the best cheesecake ever to take home.  On Sunday she came to church with me, we did the usual Central meal, and then went shopping.  The weekend could not have been any better...it was exactly what I needed.

Randy came home on Monday night and helped me clean out my classroom the next day when he found several brown recluse spiders.  Tomorrow is my last official day of my first year teaching!! All I have is inservice and then I will take much advantage of summer BREAK!

Oh, and I also took a "Senior Portrait" photo session today with the PE teacher at Bon Lin who is working on building her portfolio to pursue photography.  So if any of you stumble across pictures of just me on Facebook, there's the explanation.  And just remember that I had a FULL day of school before taking those pictures.  They're not the best (of me that is) but I was happy to help out a friend.

More Jack Videos

Randy is at it again.  Tomorrow he leaves for Cincinnati for a wedding and gets to watch the Reds play, so I don't think I'll be adding too many more.  

These are videos of the "normal" Jack...how he acts on a daily basis.  The first is how he will jump up and attack you, the second is him attacking our first cat that Phyllis sewed together before even knowing we would end up with a sandy orange kitty cat.

Jack: A Swimmer?

Well, as my last post stated, Randy is out of school.  While I am hard at work trying to tame anxious middle schoolers, Randy has been playing tennis, renting movies, going to baseball games, laying out, working out, and sleeping in.  I think he deserves every bit of it, too!  But today he got a little too ambitious.  He has been wanting to teach Jack how to swim (well, I guess he knows "how" so he wants him to "like" swimming).  Jack already loves water, so he thought it might work.  I wouldn't say it was a complete success, but I think he can handle a few more attempts....after all, we go to the lake in a couple of weeks and we want Jack to be on the boat and jetskis.  (just kidding, mom)

Anyways, here is Jack's first experience swimming...as told by Randy.

d-ONE is DONE!

Yay!!!  As of Tuesday at around 12 pm, Randy is officially done with his first year of dental school.  Yes, he still has three years to go, but he is moving right along and doing a great job both in school and also in making sure he doesn't study too much and spends enough time with me.  I am so proud of him for being in school from 8-5 five days a week and studying non stop for many weekends in this past year.  It is crazy to think that this time next year he will be having his White Coat ceremony and get to start working on patients.  Yes - patients.  Get out your list of "problems" you need to have worked on and you not only get dental work done for really cheap, but you will also get to come and visit us in Memphis.  Of course, you also are putting your trust into a brand new dentist.  For now, we are just happy that there is time off before he starts his D2 year.  Now all I have to do is finish up school and we will be foot loose and fancy free (until July 6).

Happy Mother's Day!

If I remember correctly, this is the first year that I will not be with my mom on Mother's Day.  When I was getting ready for my wedding and preparing my new life here in Memphis with Randy, there was so much going on that some things didn't hit me.  I was living at home with my parents at the time, and I remember it being the weirdest feeling the night before the wedding because I finally realized that "this would be the last night I would stay in my parent's home as their 'little girl'".  Now I think my dad realized all this pretty soon after I started dating Randy, but it was more of a delayed reaction for me.  Even in this first year of marriage, it is hard to not be keeping up with all of the same traditions as I once did.  But I know that this is all natural...

Very recently, I was reminded of just how many sacrifices my mom had to make for my sister and I.  From the day she got married until now (31 years later), she has worked five days a week, raised two daughters, planned two weddings, bent over backwards to get us anywhere and everywhere we needed to go and provide us with anything we needed, cooked and cleaned the house, micromanaged a hectic schedule, and stabilized a family. Here I am, feeling bad for myself because I have such a stressful job, when my mom dealt with FAR much more and did it without complaining.  My mother does not run marathons, lift weights, or drink protein shakes, but she is the strongest person I know.  She is strong in her outlook of life and her attitude...she does not let anything get her down, she never chooses to take the "easy" way out of something, and she always puts 100% of her attention into whatever she is doing, whether it is being a mom, planning a corporate event, or deciding the details of a wedding.  She alone could define the term "multi-task".  Through being such a strong supporter, comforter, giver, and provider, she has not only done her job as "mom" but has also become my friend.  I look forward to talking to her on the phone each day.  I enjoy any time I get to spend with her, and I value her opinion more than any other.  

I hope that one day I can carry on her many talents and characteristics as a mom.

In addition to my own mom, I also have my mother-in-law, Phyllis, who took me in right away and treats me like her own.  Together, her and I are one crafty duo.  Through Randy, I can see that she has made many sacrifices, given all of her time, and expressed the same amount of love ...although, raising three boys, it was probably different than the things my own mother had to do.  Although one of my grandmothers is no longer living and the other has almost no memory of me, they both have impacted my life so much in how they, too, served as mothers.  I have so many fond memories with my grandmothers that will stay with me forever.  Thankfully, I have gained Gr'ma and Mamaw on Randy's side, who carry out every last bit of being great, loving grandparents and spoiling their grandchildren.  They are both such amazing women.  I also am among a very small population that can refer to a "boss" as a motherly figure.  Stephanie took me in as though she had adopted me when I started babysitting her kids eight years ago, and she has had such a strong impact on my life over the years.  

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Oh, Middle Schoolers

Picturing my career as an Art Teacher, I never once saw myself teaching middle school...yet here I am with 12 days left of my first year teaching.....middle schoolers.  If you can all think back to when you were in middle school, it was probably the worst three years of your life.  Girls are mean, boys are perverted, and everyone just feels plain awkward.  Well here are some funny things, quotes, etc. that I have gathered from my middle schoolers...

This quote was said by an eighth grader to another student- "If my nose were running money, I'd blow it all on you"

One of my sixth grade students who lived in India until the past couple of years informed me that his family gets a tax break because of the movie Slumdog Millionaire....um, can this be true?

One seventh grade girl looooooves the movie Wall-E (and dinosaurs) and now every time she hears my computer make the "on" sound, she perks up, points her finger and says "Wall-E's all charged up!"

Student elections just took place at school and when I asked the class "Who won the elections?" I had a sweet, bubbly girl say "Mrs. Hartman....Obama won the election!"

When asking students to write about what they would do if they could switch places with the president, here is some of what I got...

throw people with bad fashion in jail

legalize pant sagging (is it even banned?)

stop writing (I think this was said in a defiant manner, but I should not have been the one to receive this angry statement because I make students write like once a year)

destroy the color red...huh?

It is amazing how much students want to know about your life.  I have been asked everything from "How is your husband doing, Mrs. Hartman?" to "Are you going clubbing tonight?"

Middle Schoolers pick up on EVERYTHING!  Cut your hair, pluck your eyebrows, put on a couple pounds, Jack scratches, you name it.

I get mistaken for a middle schooler at least once a week, maybe it is because I have several of the same Old Navy shirts that I see my sixth graders wearing. (Luckily I haven't been wearing the same shirt on the same day yet)

Last but not least, I think everyone should experience being a chaperone at a middle school dance.  Especially if the dance is at a school in Memphis.  The new "electric slide" is Soulja Boy.

Disclaimers

I appear to have made a few mistakes in the blogs I have posted, so here are some things that need correction:

Apparently the "Yankee" card game is spelled Euchre and not Yuker.  (For us Southerners, we would just spell it like it sounds)

Nashville DOES have Rumba and Kelsa and Pea, but Memphis DOES have Sandi, Amber, and Jack (a human Jack)

Wedding Bells and Biker Bars

Last weekend, Randy and I made the trek to Dayton, Ohio to celebrate with his Aunt Peggy, who got married to Phil Menard in March.  We are so happy for the two, who once went to high school together and met again some twenty years later.  They couldn't be a better match, and to testify to their fun personalities...their wedding celebration was at a biker bar named Jackass Flats.  

I had never seen 100+ motorcycles in one setting before.  The building itself looked like an old western saloon crowded with bikers coming from who-knows-where for $1 burgers (and booze).  Needless to say, I stood out walking into the party room in a sweet little outfit carrying a Bed Bath and Beyond gift bag.  

Peggy and Phil had so many friends and family there supporting them and it was so neat to see how happy and in love they are.  Randy got to catch up with his brothers and boy cousins, and by catching up I mean playing football and yuker.  I got to visit with the Hartman sisters and our cute little nephews, Luke and Grayden.  We spent the night at his Gr'ma and Gr'pas and went to a Reds game the next day...a perfect weekend with perfect weather.

If anyone is driving through Dayton, Ohio, you absolutely must make a stop at Rip Rap road and check out Jackass Flats. 

Jack Files

For those of you who don't know, Jack is one special cat.  Around the time of Randy's birthday in October, we found Jack at the front door of S.O.S, a missions building in the Binghampton area where we meet with our church group once a month.  He was tiny, hungry, and very personable.  We had a baptism outside the church in the back of a truck and as the girl came out of the water and wrapped herself in a towel, Jack jumped up in her arms.  Randy told me we couldn't keep him as we walked INTO church...but as we walked OUT, he was still there...and the rest is history.

Randy picked out the name, which has become a perfect name for the little devil, mostly because it has so many nicknames to go with it...

Jackie...Jack Attack...Jack Bauer...the Jackall...Jacka**...Jack in the box (the vet called him this when he was in his pet taxi)...Jack'o'lantern...Jackie Boy..."Slumcat Millionaire"

The purpose for this blog, however, is to tell the amazing, crazy, stupid, hilarious things Jack does.  And who knows what happens when he is left alone all day by himself!!

**Gets inside the fireplace and rolls in soot...becoming Jack Black

**Escapes into a "hole" in our baseboards in the kitchen.  Yes, it is an actual hole.

**Keeps finding easter eggs from Randy and I's easter egg hunt.

**Chews up any type of decoration in the apartment.  It once was nice, now it is "Jack proof"

**Loves water, swashes it around with his paws.

**Takes showers with us.

**Climbed an artificial tree at my parents' house on a ledge and it came out of the pot and was hanging down (suspended from the ledge) when they got home.

**Broken a shelf in the closet from climbing on it...all our clothes fell off.

**Lifts the toilet lid up.

**Gets a crazy, cannibalistic look in his eyes and then attacks anything and everything in its way (only Randy and I have seen this)

**Jumps up and wraps his paws around Randy's arm on command.

**Runs sideways along the back of the couch.

**Knocked down a large, painted canvas from the wall.

**Climbs up to the TV and paws at it.

**Knocks down heavy picture frames making dents in the floor.  Good thing it's an apartment.