When GPS Goes Wrong (aka The Holiday Inn Hunting Lodge)

As many of you with GPS capable cellphones know, you cannot always rely on the device to be accurate 100% of the time. On our recent trip to Alabama during the long Memorial Day weekend Jamie did not bring an atlas, as in times past. No, he had his beloved Crackberry, I mean Blackberry, which is GPS compatible.

After almost fourteen gruelingly long hours on the road, he punched in the address of our hotel, the wonderful Holiday Inn Express, and viola! Instant directions. We made the decent off the freeway onto one of the many Alabama State Highways, drove for another hour, in pouring sheets of rain. Stopping to gas up because the van was screaming "Empty! Empty!" Turned around, turned left, then right, then left again, down and around old country roads, all the while following trusty Crackberry GPS navigation system.

I was beginning to wonder if Jamie had misinterpreted the directions, after all he had been driving for fourteen-plus hours by this time. Taking the phone from him, I saw exactly what he was seeing . . . the red arrow pointing to our intended destination with the little blue dot representing us. According to the GPS, we were on top of our hotel.

We stopped to look around. To the left of us was a large forest of tall shady pines. To the right, a meadow with a clapboard barn. Could this truly be our hotel? Jamie dubbed it the Holiday Inn Hunting Lodge. With a quick phone call to the Holiday Inn Express, we realized the road we were on was, in fact, the correctly named road, only in a different city. Yeah, Alabama.

We turned around, found Interstate Hwy. 85 and drove to the Holiday Inn Express. Like a beacon in the night, we had arrived and none too soon with tempers beginning to flare (i.e., mine) and exhaustion setting in (i.e. Jamie). Rounding out our day with a home cooked meal from Jamie's Aunts and a nice visit with family later that evening.

I had to take pictures documenting this burp in the vortex of technology. Beware of your GPS, you may find yourself in the deep, dark woods lost in Alabama!

The Holiday Inn Express, Hunting Lodge

When in doubt, eat the Blackberry

Notice the "Now Open" sign, never a good sign for GPS!

Field Day 2009

Emma was so excited to participate in Field Day this year. This is the first time she has attended a school which sponsors this event. Emma, with a group of three other friends, competed in a variety of events against other classmates. The face painting booth was by far the most popular and her favorite. Emma even supported our former favorite place to call home, Fruita! I had a lot of fun too, as a parent and a teacher. My fifth grade class was outside for their Field Day at the same time as Emma. What a good day, I can't wait until next year!

Let's Do The Time Warp Again!

Salyers Spring Dance was a back to the future flash. The theme was Time Warp and encouraged partygoers to come dressed in styles from the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s or today. Being part of PTO and a regular face around the school has some advantages. I get to participate not only with the decorating, but dress up and be free advertising for the fun. I was representing the late'60s/early '70s clad in a cute dress and black leather boots (imagine Nancy Sinatra). Ms. Grounds, the principal, told me later some of the girls told her they wanted to come dressed like me. It was a lot of fun.

Miles and Taylor, my helpful twosome, dressed up too. Many people thought they were dressed like the Blues Brothers. We put them to work most of the night being stage control. The kids wanted to go on the stage with the DJ. When they weren't on the job, Miles had fun dancing and socializing with the kids on the dance floor. Taylor was happy watching from the sidelines, and Emma was running around having fun with her friends.

The highlight of the evening was Miles dancing to Michael Jackson's Thriller with one of his middle school friend's dad. This totally embarrassed the girl and Taylor, but Miles was just having fun. I can't wait until next year, perhaps Desperately Seeking Susan or Sixteen Candles for my costume? You'll have to tune in to find out!

A Beautiful Place

To celebrate Earth Day this year the PTO at Salyers sponsored a Beautification Day. Miles, Taylor, Emma and I worked at the school digging, planting and transplanting to create a new garden space outside the Fourth and Fifth grade halls. All of the classes pass by the garden on their way to the playground. We made a vegetable garden with tomatoes, peppers, and squash; an herb garden, and a butterfly garden. It was so nice to provide a new home for the butterflies the First graders raised. They have a butterfly life cycle unit in which they raise Monarch Butterflies in the classroom!

What made this project even more special was including bricks from the original Salyers Elementary School as the foundation for the beds. Salyers celebrates 50 years in the community this year and is the original school for Spring ISD! How amazing to be a part of such a rich history.

I am so proud of all the hard work my kids put in to our new community. This summer we volunteered to take care of watering and weeding the garden with hopes of planting fall vegetables to watch and learn about when school starts in August! We'll keep you posted on the garden!

GO FISH!

The cafeteria stage was transformed into an underwater adventure starring Salyers' Second Grade! Emma was a Zebrafish whose extreme makeover didn't quite come out right. The kids really had fun acting out this musical play with silly songs and even sillier dialogue. Emma stole the show with her witty one-liners. She is a natural born star, watch out Broadway!

Snake Man!

Every December our school invites a very special guest to visit and bring along some very special friends. I know you're thinking of the Man in Red and those mythical flying creatures who brings presents to all the good little boys and girls. It isn't Jolly Ol' St. Nick who is bringing joy to the children but none other than the infamous (at least around these parts) Clint the Snake Man!

Mr. Snake Man, as he's so lovingly referred to by the kids, visits for a whole week! He brings all varieties of nonvenomous snakes, many of which are indigenous to the greater Houston area. As a PTO mom I was able to assist Mr. Snake Man almost the entire week! I had so much fun teaching the kids and many of the adults about these magical creatures. There were Milk Snakes, Banded Kingsnakes, Speckled Kingsnakes, Corn Snakes, African Ball Python, and the special guest, Hurricane Joe, the Albino Boa Constrictor.

This is probably the most anticipated event our school hosts each year and I am privileged to be a part of it this year. Here are a few pictures of Emma and me with the snakes!

Spare a Little Time?

There are a few things I've realized, there are never enough hours in the day, nor days of the week. I know that sounds like a complaint, and perhaps a little one is hidden between commas; but, I know all of it is perfectly planned. I feel as if I do not get enough sleep and seldom have enough time to make coffee before rushing off to another day. I reflect on missed moments and hurried prayers before my next class.

This month I made a promise to myself to get back into the habit of reading my daily devotionals. This time spent in conversation with the Lord is such valuable time and truly the most meaningful in my day. I missed a couple of days, I mentioned I'm a little out of practice, but for the most part I am keeping up with reading and giving a few moments of the day back to God.

Today's devotional expanded on Galatians 2:6 "And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality) - those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me."

This scripture hit me like a ton of bricks. I know I normally write about the family and make some cute remarks about our defunct computer or anticts in our busy lives, but today I feel impressed to share this with you.

The journal prompts read, "Am I guilty of pragmatism in my walk with the Lord? What is one way I can foster a relationship with God that thrives on love, rather than on keeping a bunch of rules and regulations?"

I am involved in impacting the lives of so many people, from the leaders of our school to the children in the classrooms. Every day I go to work and know the names of almost every child I see. I recieve hugs and smiles from so many people each and every day. I don't know many people who receive such an abundance of outpouring and love on a daily basis. I have an influence on each of these people, and so do you.

I'll end with this, my heart was heavy when I reread the journal prompt and replaced "the Lord" and "God" with "my husband and children." It isn't every day we see or feel the hand of the Lord working in our lives, it is on faith that we act. Today it is my desire to share with you a renewed faith in the power of influence, in the power of action; I offer this prayer from my devotional, with a twist, "Father, I want to respond to you (my husband and children) out of love and not out of obligation. Forgive me for the times when I have treated my relationship with You (my husband and children) like a to-do list. Lord, help me to see one way I can improve these relationships and build them to thrive on love. Amen."