When Philip and I realized how close we actually to Chattanooga, we decided it was a great place for a day trip!  Yesterday, we got up and decided to brave the incoming rain and head east.  We stopped at Cracker Barrel, my favorite restaurant, then headed downtown.  We decided to go to the Tennessee Aquarium.  Despite a girl scout troop, a really loud gaggle of rednecks, and swine flu - carrying revolving doors, we had a pretty good time.  I saw waaaay too many snakes, and they were waaaay too close to me!  There was a rattlesnake that kept sticking out his big black tongue.  SHUDDER!  The otters were cute, and they had a cool penguin exhibit.  After we were done there, we decided to head up to Lookout Mountain.  By the time we got about half way up, the rain started again and the fog was THICK!  We just decided to give in to Mr. Yucky Weather and drive on home.  It was a good day!

Ok, at what point do you just throw your hands up in the air and give up?  Let me tell ya about my week at school!

Tuesday, we started using hand sanitizer and clorox wipes like crazy to try and ward off the flu.  I have been dubbed "hand sanitizer lady."  Of course, that's pretty funny, because I've had a cough for three weeks.  I'm on the good medicine now, so hopefully it will go away soon...

Wednesday, I came in and the alarm was already going off.  I couldn't get it to stop, and of course, couldn't let any kids in the building in case something was going on inside.  We had about 90 children on the driveway by the front door for a good 30 minutes while some dads combed the building to make sure it was clear.  We finally had to disable it at the box...

We've been covering for each other all week because of teachers being sick.  That always makes the kids hyper...

We were all just trying to make it through today...  Short day!  Easy, right?  SURE...  So, during drop-off this morning, Jon and I heard a bang and all the lights went out.  Transformer!  Had to do classes in the "dark."  About 9:00, the fire alarm went off and we all had to head outside.  Finally, we decided to close school at 10:00. 

Admitting defeat on this week...  Insanity- you win!

Today was the first practice for our play, Tom Sawyer.  I was thrilled with their work!  They all knew their lines and they worked hard the whole time!  By this time last year, we were NOWHERE near this point!!!  This is such a funny script, and we are all excited to get started.  :)

It's been a long time since I posted on this blog.  Yeah, you can attribute this to me having a Saturday to myself!  Let's see if I can catch you up!

House Updates:
We had hail damage during the summer, so we got a new roof this week!  We went with architectural shingles, and we really like the way they look!  Also, we finally landscaped the front flower beds.  It's amazing the difference a few plants makes!  The next big project is the kitchen.  At this point, the plan is to get that done next summer.

School Updates:
Philip started on his Master's program this week.  He's taking one class per semester, so hopefully he will be done in a few years.  :)  I'm starting my sixth year at PCS.  I'm the English Department Chair.  Classes this year- 7th, 8th, 9th English/Literature, 9th History/Literature/Bible, Government/Economics.  Directing the high school play for the 4th year in a row!  We're doing Tom Sawyer, and I'm super excited!  The performance will be in November.  I'm also the Student Council sponsor.  Elections are this Friday.

Summer:
I went with the graduates to the second year of Student Leadership University, which was in D.C. this year!  I was so pumped to finally get to go there!  We saw everything in 5 short days!  Rushed but great...  Philip and I are definitely planning to go back there.  The week after that I left for a week in South Carolina with Megan.  I was her sister's wedding photographer.  Photos Here    After that, the guys met us and the four of us went to Williamsburg, VA, for a week.  Yep, that's three weeks I was gone!  Funny thing is, it didn't seem like that long.  I truly had a great time!

I will post much more on here from now on!!!

we just spent the weekend in kentucky visiting the creation museum. this is an incredible place produced by answers in genesis, and i would highly recommend going and taking your family.

the last thing we did was the planetarium, which was a movie called "created cosmos." it was an amazing presentation of the universe, galaxies, stars, and planets. millions of light years- all created by the voice of God.

the thing that really struck me was the sheer size of all that God created. we, as humans, tend to think that we are so big and that the earth is "it." when i look at the sky, the heavens seem so big to me, yet i can only see the tiniest percentage of it all. we left the planetarium thinking about how small and insignificant we are compared to God's amazing universe.

yet...

He chose to make us the CENTER of HIS universe, sending His son to die for US, the tiniest and, for all practical purposes, "invisible" elements. it's completely humbling when you think about how much there is and how, in spite of it all, we matter to Him.

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
Psalm 8:3-4

It's a strange thing. When I heard about the two year old son of Rick Burgess (of the Rick and Bubba Show) tragically passing away over the weekend, my heart just ached. I don't even know this family. I've never even met them. The strange part of it all is that I feel like I do know them. I've grieved in my heart all day, praying for God to hold the family in His arms. Maybe it's because, in my mind, he represents everyone's little boy or girl, and the pain comes from the idea alone that one should never have to go through something this terrible. I am not yet a parent, but even the little part of me that pretends to understand what it would be like to deal with this loss can't comprehend it. People may think it's ridiculous to feel so saddened by this when I don't know them, but honestly, we are all tied together through Christ. Even if our lives don't intertwine and our paths don't physically cross, we will be together for eternity, as brothers and sisters. Lift these precious people to God today. Life is oh so fragile.

Imagine with me for a moment that you are lying in the ER minding your own business, your first ever IV sticking out of your arm, and a man you've never seen before barges in only to inform you that he will be cutting you open within the hour. O.K., reality check, do what??? But I thought it was just food poisoning! You know, a week of antibiotics and you're back to chasing the dog and eating pizza. If only...

So here's how it happened. I started feeling sick on Sunday. Typical stomach stuff, annoying but no big deal. Well, on Monday, I started having the most excruciating pain I have ever experienced. There were times I couldn't move! If you know me at all, I really have to feel bad to visit the wonderful healer known as the family doctor. Seriously, I saw them blow the dust off my file the last time I went! However, without reservation, I went to see him on Tuesday. Upon seeing my symptoms, he treated me for food poisoning and told me that if I wasn't better by Friday, I should come back to see him. By the next day, the pain wasn't as bad, and I, with all the wishful thinking I could muster, decided that I was on the path to making a full recovery. Of course, I was completely ignoring the fact that my pain was creeping toward the right side, because that might mean something bad, and in my experience, if you ignore something bad, it will surely go away, right? Thursday ushered in even more pain and nervousness. By the time that evening rolled around, I was pretty convinced that my “wishing it away” just wasn't working! We decided it was time to head to the ER just in case.

Have you ever been to the ER? It was certainly a new experience for me, that's for sure. (Remember the part about the dust on my file?) First of all, when they call it the ER waiting room, they mean WAITING room. I even wonder if they would have made me wait if my head was hanging from my body by a thread. It would have been a little more interesting if something exciting had happened while I was there! Nobody said STAT, nobody screamed at the nurses, and the doctor from Grey's Anatomy didn't run through on his way to Trauma room #1. All in all, it was a pretty disappointing experience. When they finally called my name, it was only to escort me to a room to answer questions and soon after, go back into the waiting room. Another 15 minutes or so and they let me go to the exam room, my home sweet home for the next six hours. OK, so not that I'm already nervous enough about this whole experience, but the first thing they do to me when I get back there is plunge a needle into my arm. Welcome to our hospital! So, for years I'd had this terrorizing fear of IV's. I was convinced that they jammed a 5 inch needle into your skin and that if you moved, it would pop out, wrecking the entire idea of the thing. Guess what? That isn't the way it is at all! Who knew? The part they leave in you is plastic! Now doesn't that make much more sense? Let me just stop right here and say that if I'd known what was to come, the IV would have been the LEAST of my worries! After I answered all the same questions I'd already answered twice before, my impeccable ER nurse made me drink some of the nastiest-tasting stuff I've ever had. It was for the CT Scan that I would be privileged to enjoy shortly. O.K, seriously, if they can flavor cold medicine, why can't they make this horrid stuff taste like grapes or oranges or something? Heck, I'd even take the Robitussin flavor at this point! During all of this fun, the ER doctor came in and asked me, yes, you guessed it, all of the same questions I'd been asked 3 times now. Finally, a guy who looked like he was skipping his high school football game to make a guest appearance in the ER, wheeled my bed down several long halls to the CT Scan. I will say this- he wheeled me with about as much grace as I would expect a quarterback to have running across the 50-yard line. I don't think he even realized that I was IN the bed!

You know what? When you are in the hospital, they are constantly pushing new medications into your IV. Sometimes they tell you what will happen when it goes in, and other times they don't. The nurse who did my scan injected what is called “contrast” into my veins, telling me that it would feel warm. Wow, warm just doesn't do it justice. I thought my body was on fire! As I'm sliding back and forth in the CT Scan, I look up just in time to see a sign that, in very small letters, asks me not to look at the machine when I'm going through it. O.K, pretty sure that's something she should have told me! I already have something terribly wrong with me; I don't need to burn my retinas too!

After I was wheeled ever-so-gingerly back to my room, I waited and waited some more! I really think the appropriate place for me at that point would have been the waiting room! It seemed like hours! Of course, if I had known what I was waiting on, I would have gladly waited a little longer. Surgeons are interesting beings. So focused, so blunt. You have a ruptured appendix. I have a what? Seriously, at this point I had resigned myself to the fact that I probably had appendicitis, but ruptured? We're going to surgery now. I will make an incision in your... What? A what in my where? Wait a minute! I've never even been in a hospital before! And this is how you greet me? A knife? I don't even know what all he said to me, and quite honestly, what I did hear sounded so intellectually above me that it wouldn't have done any good at that point. One thing is for sure, when they have to call the surgeon at home at midnight, it must be a pretty big deal. There's a lot of “stuff” in your abdomen. Oh! Good! Not only did my appendix decide to EXPLODE inside of me, but I have one of the worst cases you've ever seen. I'm feelin' good now!

More fluids pumped into my IV, more movement all around me, more decisions. It was really happening. I was being wheeled upstairs to the OR. They were going to cut holes in me and REMOVE part of what was inside! While we're on the subject, does anybody know what that little appendix is for anyway? I know I'll be asking God that when I get to heaven. Yeah, not such a funny joke there...

All my life, I've always heard people tell about what it feels like to be put to sleep for surgery. Typically, the story goes like this: They tell you to count backward from 10 and then you just fall asleep when you get to about 8. HA! Not this girl. They rolled me in, I moved to the operating table, and literally, the next thing I remember is waking up in recovery. No counting, no warning, nothing. Goodnight Katie, see you on the other side would have been nice! Waking up in recovery, I had NO idea what was going on. I do remember that I was connected to oxygen, and that my pain was gone, but that's it.

They eventually wheeled me upstairs to my room. When we got there, my mom and husband were there. I can only imagine what I must have looked like to them at that point. Not my best moment for sure. It's interesting, the things that you discover after the anesthesia starts to wear off. There were tubes coming out of my body, and who knows where they were going. All I know is that I was afraid I was going to pull one out without thinking about it. Of course, they'd taken all the precautions to make sure that wasn't going to happen, but what did I know?

The next few days were full of new and exciting experiences for me, many of which should never again be discussed! There are some things you truly take for granted, like sitting up in bed without needing two people to help you or not getting winded after walking down the hall. Oh, and let me tell ya how fun it is when they can't find the vein but they're still trying to!!! OK, so if you've never been in the hospital, you've never experienced the built-in alarm clock otherwise known as the lab tech! Seriously, I think the sun wonders why they're up when they are! Every morning they had the audacity to burst into my room, blind me with ALL the lights, and say, “Mrs. Fletcher, we're here to take some blood.” Now listen, I promise you that those vampires could have come for their little friendly visit AFTER 6am, but I guess I wasn't that lucky. I pretty much got to the point where I wouldn't even really wake up. They'd charge in with their needles and vials and I'd just throw both arms up, hoping that they would find a suitable place that hadn't been punctured 5 minutes before. I was a prisoner! They knew I couldn't go anywhere, and I honestly didn't have a chance. But my question is this- Doesn't sleep heal you more quickly? Don't they always tell you to rest well? Well, how the heck am I supposed to heal if you people wake me up every two hours!?

One of the most bizarre happenings was the effects of my pain medication. They gave me a lovely little button which was attached to a morphine pump. Man, that stuff should come with a huge red warning label! “Don't use it! Trust us, it's not worth it!” They told me that it would stop pumping when I'd had too much, but I'd hate to see what would have happened to me if I HAD used too much! That little “button” created some major hallucinations in my brain! Let's see, there were the rainbow bananas and brightly-colored flip-flops that tried to attack me, and about every 3 minutes, the bed would try to eat me whole. I was afraid to close my eyes, because every time I did, something else came after me! I really don't know why people CHOOSE to put that stuff into their bodies! Talk about not being in control at all!!!

There were sleepless nights where I woke up shaking uncontrollably, and every time the doctor came in to see me, the shaking came back. I guess I was terrified that he would find something else wrong with me! My diet definitely left much to be desired. I went from ice chips to liquids to a “soft diet.” I was really excited when they told me I would be eating real food! Guess what they brought me? Spaghetti! You would assume they would think twice before bringing spicy pasta to a patient recovering from abdominal surgery!

Finally, after four days of watching way too much Leave it to Beaver and I Love Lucy, they let me go home! I remember being wheeled downstairs and out the front door. The most vivid thought I still have from that moment is that the sun was so bright I could barely see, and the sounds and smells were so strong that it was like I'd never experienced them before. Everything was so beautiful, even in the middle of the busy downtown hospital district. I was finally on my way to getting my life back!

As I began my recovery, I couldn't help but reflect on God's grace and the precious gift of life that He gives us. I've had so many people tell me how dangerous this whole ordeal was, and it was, but I know that God was there to protect me the whole way. The interesting thing is that I truly cannot remember the pain. I think God gives us the grace to be able to forget. I learned humility because I was at a point where I couldn't so anything on my own. I learned how to be grateful because of all the servants He placed in my path. And I learned that true worship is the love song of living wholly for my Savior, the one who saves us from a fate far worse than anything we could ever endure on this earth. Yes, it's been a life-changing experience, and although I would never want to go through it again, I'm purely thankful for what it taught me- to live each day with complete vigor and joy in Christ.

Disturb us, Lord, when We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

~Prayer of Sir Francis Drake
[thanks susz]

psalm 62:5
"my soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him."

waiting. that's a big one. this verse really grabbed me and threw me down on the ground. first of all, there's the waiting part. what does that really mean? do we pray and ask God for some higher-than-us thing and then EXPECT His answer right away? in all probability, that's exactly what happens. we are perfectly content to wait, as long as the waiting doesn't extent past the number of alloted days we have marked off on our calendar. now for the "only" part. we humans are notorious for always wanting something we don't have. i have discovered that when we look to something other than God, we always come up empty handed. always. sure, we might be happy and content for awhile, but our hearts soon turn to the next desire and then the next. it's hard to imagine truly being happy with God only, yet that's exactly what He calls us to strive for. He knows that He is enough for us, but we just can't seem to grasp it. ok, let's go back to the silence thing. yeah, you knew it was coming. why is it that we cannot seem to be silent when God is trying desperately to speak to us? waiting in silence means waiting with a trusting heart, not constantly questioning why He hasn't answered us. waiting in silence means waiting for His revelation and truth. in this "gotta have it now" world, we have really lost sight of the sweetness that accompanies the journey of waiting. it's in the silence of waiting that our Father often reveals His beautiful heart most clearly.

grandmother's quilts. chocolate chip cookies. going-out-of-business sale at little used book shop. kohls. cracker barrel. opry mills. tristan and isolde and the nativity story- $4 each. read 90 minutes in heaven. high school musical 2.

good good weekend.

well, it's 8:15pm and i'm sitting at the computer, which is in the COMPUTER ROOM! and yes, there is NEW CARPET under my feet! it's a miracle! they did all of the downstairs today. they are finishing tomorrow. :)

today was day two of my teacher inservice. i'm so very excited about starting a new year. there is just something about starting over with a clean slate, new kids, new courses, and new duties. i love it! of course, i was always one of those kids who loved buying the new notebooks and pencils for school. hey, wait a minute! i STILL love those new notebooks! my homeroom this year is 8th grade, although i do teach some 9-11th and some 7th. i like the mix, and the kids are wonderful.

right now i'm praying for humility and a gentle spirit. when it comes to making sure everyone has everything done, i think i can get a bit intense. i have to watch myself and make sure i don't go overboard.

"I'd rather be a pauper than a prince
Oh, living without you, without you
I'd rather be a failure than famous
Living without you, without you"
[shaun groves- without you]

remember that little comment about jinxing this? y'all, this is getting ridiculous. carpet guy just called and said that they can't come out tomorrow because the house they are working on now has a rotting floor and they have to rebuild it. he says MAYBE saturday and sunday, but they may not be done with the other job even then, in which case it would be NEXT saturday and sunday. the more this goes on, the more i think it will just throw towels all over the floor and call it done.

update: it looks like it will be wednesday now. but i'm not holding my breath...

an inspector came today about the carpet. after i told him the whole story, he informed me that that type of "defect" goes away after a couple of days. [man, i wish the installer had known that.] i felt bad for the inspector because i had nothing to show him!!! he made his report, gave me tips on carpet care, and was gone in 5 minutes. [by the way, he said walking on carpet with your bare feet causes more wear and staining. apparently the oil from your skin stays in it and attracts dirt? that's a new one for me.] so, barring an act of God, the installers will be here AGAIN tomorrow, hopefully for the last time. speaking of last times, let's all take a moment to gaze one last time at the closet, er, uh, i mean living room. after tomorrow, i can get back to living! (hmm, i wonder if i just jinxed it?)

My life is like a canvas
And on most days I do my best
To fill it in with my mess
Til' Your image can't be seen
How I love self-centered sketches
Painting my ways to the edges
But I think what I like best is
How it looks so much like me
No more now
I'm laying my colors down
Til my picture fades away

I am coming clean
I am offering
Every space in me for You to fill
And I am coming clean
I am promising
If You'll write on me Your perfect will
Then I'll be a blank page

maybe my life's like a story
That was written for Your glory
But I guess I found that boring
So I took Your pen in hand
And I scribbled You a bit part
And I made myself the big star
But replacing You proves too hard
Guess I don't know how it ends
No more now
I'm laying my best plans down
My story fades away

Make Your masterpiece
Out of each day in me
I beg You, beg you
Where my plans have laid
Come while Your better ways
I beg You, beg You
Lord I need You

[shaun groves- blank page]

i have one week of summer left. teacher work days start tuesday. i am blown away by how quickly summer dashed by! i went around today and gathered up everything i need to take with me.


[this is what happens when you have a scrapbooker for a teacher...]

my gerbera daisies are finally blooming for the second time around this year

finally had the foyer painted. i've waited so long, and it's beautiful! now to wait for the carpet. :)

i once was lost, but now i'm found.

i got to leave the house today!!! i spent the morning at school meeting with a yearbook rep, and i spent the afternoon hanging out with my good friend megan and her baby.

the carpet saga continues. now they are saying the EARLIEST it will be in is the 25th. that's a far cry from "within the week" (last week). i will be patient, i will be patient. sigh... is it here yet?

my house is a wreck! the carpet fiasco means that my living room is serving as our closet, and that makes is very hard to move around.

when the carpet guys came last week, they got everything prepped and ready, including installing the padding upstairs and down. they cut the first roll of carpet, which honestly rolled out to the full length of the driveway, and had it all spread out in the bedroom. then they rolled out the second, and much bigger, roll. the guy comes in telling me "we have a problem." apparently they rolled it wrong at the factory, and there were lines about every two feet or so. so he's on the phone with lowe's... "they're living here now... the pad is already down... i can't get this carpet back on my truck..." so after talking to everyone under the sun on the phone, we decided that they would "loose lay" the carpet just to protect the pad, especially with lucy running around. "usually they get the replacement carpet shipped to us within the week." yeah, uh huh. that was tuesday, and here i am, a week later, and still no carpet, no phone call, nothing. i have things to get done, and i'm itching to get this house in order before school starts (three weeks!), but i can't do anything. our clothes are hanging on work lights and ladders. (now where is that darn camera cable?)




i am also still stuck at home all day. we are waiting on the check from the insurance company so philip can buy a car. we drove into town last night to test drive a truck, but when he got there, we found out that it had sold that afternoon. i do get to go up to school tomorrow, and that is actually a treat!