Sunday, May 30, 2010

Sprucing Up My Deck

I'm trying to create a nice outdoor space on my deck.  I've begun the process by making a planter out of some old drink crates that I've been saving for just the right thing.  Here's how it turned out.  I love the results!

I've linked up to Southern Fried Gal's Garden Party. Go read about all her gardening creativity.

Friday, May 28, 2010

School on Memorial Day?!! Here We Go Again!

Another Friday night and I made it through another week.  Since the tornado hit, our school year has dragged on and on and on and on.  You get the picture.  We are even having school on Monday, Memorial Day.  Isn't that crazy?!  Student attendance has dwindled down, and I suspect there will hardly be any kids next week.  Our 3rd & 4th grade is having a cookout on Monday, so maybe it won't be so bad working that day, after all.  It should be similar to the Saturday that we worked last week. 

My work has not slowed down.  I've been just as busy as ever.  Purchase orders, budgets, and bills have occupied my time this week.  Then next week it will be receipt books, payroll, and end-of-month reports.  It's a vicious cycle.  I'm very grateful to have a job, and although I gripe and get stressed out sometime, I do enjoy my job. 

We have had it pretty rough since proration hit this year, and it doesn't look promising for the next couple of years.  Pink slips were given out today to some of the non-tenured teachers & aides.  It's always a sad time, but it has become fairly commonplace every year for the past couple of years.  Some of the pink-slip people do get called back before the start of the next school year, but I know that many of them are in limbo wondering if they should look for a job elsewhere or not. 

So, one more week, and the teachers should be gone.  I'll still be there along with just a scant few others, as we work through the summer (what will be left of it, anyway), and then prepare for the next school year.  Summers at school/work are more laid back and not as structured.  There are hardly any interruptions, so I use that time to get caught up on things that are piled in stacks around my office.  I will try to take some time off for vacation this year.  We aren't planning anything big, but I did buy some Six Flags tickets at my credit union today.  We'll have them whenever we decide we need to take off and get away soon.  In fact, that doesn't sound like a bad idea right now!  But, I guess we'll have to wait for just awhile.  Think about me and our school system holding school on Memorial Day when you are out there BBQ-ing and lying out by the pool on Monday.  You're one of the fortunate ones.

Monday, May 24, 2010

School on Saturday?!

I wanted to tell you about my experience with Albertville schols holding school on Saturday.  Due to having to be out for so many snow days, our school system had a choice to tack on days at the end of school, or go on a Saturday and get it over with.  The majority voted for Saturday, May 22.  I really wanted it to be at the end of school because I am what they call a "12 month employee."  I work year 'round, anyway...yes, even in the summer.  But, don't feel bad for me.  I have had to work in the summer with all my previous jobs, so what's the difference?!  Well, I was going to take a vacation day, since my son had graduated the night before, but I decided to be a part of history and go see how it would be.  When I drove up the parking lot looked like this...









...not too shabby from the looks of it.  This should be interesting.  There were some people that I caught working...









...but come lunch time, and the cookout was on!









There was ice cream...









Socializing...


















Dancing...









More dancing...









The kids even got in on the fun...






















We had a young Michael Jackson in our midst!










School on Saturday wasn't so bad.  I wouldn't want to do it every weekend, though!  We had about 76 students out of our normal 1350.  School dismissed around 1:30, and everyone was able to go enjoy the rest of their weekend.  Now, due the tornado, school will still be in session through June 4.  We all may be crazy by then, but most of us already are!  See...


Sunday, May 23, 2010

The Class of 2010: Overcoming Obstacles

My son, Chase, is a high school graduate. Friday night, nearly a month since the tornado damaged the school & the stadium, Chase's class donned their cap and gowns, said farewell to their schoolmates, and finished their high school era. They put Twister (like the game) papers on the top of their caps.  They stuck Twister dots, red, yellow, and blue, on the principal as they received their diplomas from him. 

It was an odd school year. We had more snow days this past Winter than we have had in a long, long time. Then came the tornado, which in all actuality, cut their school year short. There were only 2 buildings to hold classes in, the fine arts center & the lunchroom. Attendance policies were relaxed, and a majority of the students did not attend school for the rest of the year. You will be able to see some of the damage in the background of the slideshow that concludes this post. The local news stations were there to document how Albertville High School students were able to graduate on time, despite all the obstacles.

Rain on Friday had everyone worried that graduation would have to be held in the fine arts center, which would have limited the number of guests per senior. Luckily, about 2 hours before graduation time, the skies cleared and the sun came out. Thank you, Lord. I was so glad that these seniors could end their high school days on a somewhat normal note.

These kids have been through a lot. They lost a schoolmate to a drowning about 2 years ago. They acknowledged him in their speeches. One student missed the graduation because he suffered a collapsed lung just this past week. The principal took his diploma to him in the hospital that night following graduation.

I know many of these students. Chase has played sports with so many of them. Many are like my own kids.  Many have spent nights at our home.  As I looked around the crowd in the stands Friday night, I saw so many faces of people that we were connected with, soley because our kids had played ball together. Some have become friends for a lifetime. We were all experiencing the same emotions together that night, sadness and happiness all rolled into one.

So begins another era in their lives.  College, the workforce, the armed forces, life.  I wish the best of luck to the Class of 2010.  May God bless your lives, abundantly. 

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Another Milestone: My Son Is Graduating

Two days and my middle son, Chase, will be graduating from high school.  It's a bit hard for me to believe.  A few days ago a parent brought a little boy in to the school where I work.  He looked a lot like Chase when he was that age.  I heard him say something, and he sounded like Chase did at that age.  I smiled to myself and went quietly back to my office, secretly re-living some memories of my child so many years ago.  We went through some tough times when our kids were little.  I worked some of the time, went to school some of the time, lived on welfare some of the time.  There's no doubt that we are in a better place, now.  But, looking back at those tough times, I see that we didn't have it so bad after all.  Those were some of the best days of our lives.  I miss my kids being small.  The problems only get bigger as they get older.  I try to take moments throughout the day and take note of things now that I know I will miss in the future.  Right now, Jordan is in the living room playing video games.  One day those video games will be silent.  Just a few weeks ago, I was lying in bed, and I could hear Jordan & Chase outside playing basketball.  I savored that moment just thinking that it won't be much longer that I won't hear that, anymore.  If I'm lucky there will be grandchildren to take up the slack...but it won't be the same.  To you mothers out there who have young children, cherish every moment.  They go by so quickly.  You'll turn around one day, and that little child will be graduating from high school. Ready to face the world. And, there's not one thing you can do to stop it.

I love you, Chase.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Is That a Freight Train I Hear? No, It's A Tornado!!!

It's been 3 weeks since a tornado tore through my hometown.  This is my account of what I went through on Saturday, April 24 around 10:20 p.m.  Tornado sirens warned us, as well as the local news stations.  A tornado was heading straight toward Albertville.  We've heard this before.  The weathercasters see something on their radar "indicating" that a tornado might be there.  Well, this time it was.  It went right over us or right by us, I'm not sure which.  What I do know is that our power suddenly shut off, and shortly afterward, the wind picked up & didn't stop for what seemed like 5 minutes.  I know that it was only about 25 seconds, and my son, Chase said, "It sounds like a freight train!"  He had gotten into the bedroom closet, and I was closely behind.  My husband, Kevin, was across the room trying to put the window up.  He decided to join us just as the wind slowly died down.  My heart was racing, and I was shaking.  I quickly updated my Facebook status on my phone by saying, "I think a tornado just passed over us!"  Looking out the front door, we saw our motorcycle lying on its side.  It looked like it could be mangled.  It was hard to see in the dark.  We found the flashlight & shone it outside.  There was things up in the power lines & all around the yard.  When the rain died down, we walked outside.  Chase went around to the side of the house and yelled for us to come see.  As we walked around the corner, a huge root system faced us.  Chase said, " I knew I smelled tree!"  It was from the gigantic oak that stood RIGHT BESIDE OUR HOUSE!!  Luckily it had fallen at an angle, away from our house!  It was a good thing, too, because it was so close to the room that we sought shelter in!  We could hear our neighbors coming out of their homes and yelling to each other to make sure everyone was okay.  And then we smelled it.  There was a gas leak from and unrooted tree down the road.  We turned off the gas at our meter. In the dark, we began to notice that there were trees all through our neighborhood.  The house next door had a tree ON it!  A few houses down across the street a tree had taken off the whole front of one house.  There was a tree across our road, and there were also power lines down everywhere.  It was surreal, like a war zone.  I'll never forget it. 

Having Facebook on my BlackBerry was my only source of information.  People began posting about places that had gotten hit, including our high school and middle school.  There was so much being said on there that I began to not take a lot of stock in it until I could see for myself.  We walked down to the end of our street in total disbelief at the destruction.  Rescue workers were going door-to-door checking on people.  I had high school friends on Facebook that had moved away that were worried about their families.  One asked if we could check on her parents that lived on another street down from me.  But, it was impossible because of all the downed trees & power lines.  It was such a helpless feeling.  We got back to our home and sat in the dark trying to comprehend what had just happened.  We decided to try to get some sleep, not know what Sunday morning would hold.  We went to sleep to the sound of chainsaws all around our city. 

Sunday morning we awoke pretty early.  I was a bit afraid to see what the daylight would show.  We got up & decided to walk around town.  We live very close to downtown & to the high school & middle school.  A tree that had blocked our road the night before had been cleared.  Other than that there was destruction everywhere.  Other people were out walking, as we were, to see what damage had been done.  There were so many tree just uprooted.  Unfortunately, some were lying on houses & on cars.  There were no power lines left, & most of the power poles were gone, also.  No doubt, we were going to be without power for quite some time.  I live just off of "Million Dollar Avenue", which was hit VERY hard.  What once was a quaint, shaded street with beautiful houses now looked like a construction site.  All the shade was gone!  You could see all over town from points that you never could before.  The mobile units that were the temporary classrooms at our high school were crushed, flipped on their sides, and a few were even turned upside down!  Thank God this didn't happen during the school day.  The kids wouldn't have been in those during a tornado warning, but with all the new high school construction, there was limited space for them to all take shelter.  Many of the older buildings on campus had damage.  Huge light posts at our new stadium had fallen.  One fell directly onto the bleachers & smashed them in. 

I could go on and on about the destruction because it was everywhere we looked.  The one thing that was amazing about all this is that there were no deaths, and just a few injuries.  Praise God for that! 

We went without power for a full week.  Our cable tv & Internet was restored 4 days later.  And, just today, we got a new central heating & air unit. (Ours was destroyed when the tree was uprooted right beside it).  The wall of tree debris piles that lined my road was finally cleared this week.  Things are slowly getting back to normal, but I'm not sure they will ever be the way they were before.  It will take many years for the landscape of this city to be restored to its pre-tornado glory.  But, life goes on.  We take it one day at a time.  That's all we can do.

Here's a video that someone put together.  It says it all...

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Is It Friday Yet?

Feeling blah.

Wanting to get the groove back into this groovy blog...

Not feeling it yet...

Life still hasn't gotten back to normal since the tornado...

Will it ever?

We still have no central heating & air unit...

The other one was destroyed when the oak was uprooted...

Hopefully, we will have air conditioning by this weekend...

Still thankful for the Lord's protection over us...

Overwhelmed...

Chase graduates next week...

Having a party afterward...

At my house...

Lots to do this Saturday...

Jordan (my youngest) got his driver's license this week...

Justin has a wife & a baby, but has yet to grow up...

Frustrated with him...

Work has been non-stop since going back after the tornado...

Accounts Payable checks, bank statement reconciliation, payroll, and receipt books, all in one week!

Double all of that.  (TWO schools!)...

No wonder I feel this way...

Is it Friday yet?????

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Finding The Silver Lining After The Tornado


(Written Saturday, May 8, 2010)
I've been away for awhile.  Exactly two weeks ago, April 24, a tornado tore through my neighborhood & some surrounding areas around 10:20 p.m.  Last night I started writing a post describing that night.  I didn't finish it, and now I have decided that it is just too lenghty and probably does not convey all the feelings that were running through my mind that night and the next day and the several days afterward.  I'll leave it as unpublished, but there to read as a memory. 

I will say that we are all okay.  There were no deaths, thank God!  Our house is still standing, with only minor damage, which is more than I can say about so many of the homes around our town. We are without air conditioning (except for a small window one in the dining room) which is due to the huge oak tree beside our house being uprooted.  The central heating & air unit was a casualty of that.  Insurance is covering it, and some guys are coming to install one next week...once we get some more dirt to fill the hole left by the tree. 

You should have seen how our community came together and helped one another.  Maybe you did.  There were so many people willing to go above and beyond what anyone would ever expect.  I had friends that brought us food, did some laundry, lent us a generator (we were without power for a whole week), and offered their homes to us. Our high school and middle school were also hit.  There were students all around town helping others by removing trees, debris, and destroyed furniture for the victims of the EF-3 tornado. I'm sure that those kids have learned more life lessons in the past 2 weeks than they have learned in all their years of school.  There is a goodness to humanity.  We don't always see it, but if you had come to Albertville, Alabama the week following April 24, you would have seen it everywhere. 

Our fiercest high school rivals, one city over from us, even pitched in to help by selling t-shirts that said "Pirates Help Aggies," as opposed to their "Beat Aggies" shirts that they always wear when we play them in sports.  This was one of the gestures that really touched my heart.  I feel bad for our senior class, one of which is my son, who had their year cut short and disrupted by this tornado.  I feel bad for our old high school building that took the brunt of the damage & was probably the reason that the newly constructed/in-progress building only received minor damage, how ironic for it to go out in such a way after all these years.

There was another bit of irony that we discovered.  On April 24, 1908, a "cyclone" a.k.a. tornado hit downtown Albertville, exactly 110 years ago.  How eerie!  We got out our old Discovering Albertville's Past  book and read about it, by lantern light, on one of those nights without power.  Unbelieveable.  Yet, it happened, just as this had happened.  I wonder if those people pulled together like the ones I saw.  I'm sure they did.  I'm sure they saw the goodness in humanity, too.

Thank you, Lord, for only property damage.  Thank you for showing us that all differences can be put aside to help someone in need.  Thank you for keeping my family safe.  Thank you for all the volunteers, city workers, and others.  Thank you.

Carpe Diem
Go HERE to view a slideshow I put together of my neighborhood.