Loooove is in the Aiiiir!

But hate is in my heart.

Mwahahaha. Sometimes I love to hate. Love to think of hitting people with my car, dumping spaghetti on someone's head, pushing someone into a lake.

If you know me at all, you know that when someone screws up with me, plays with my head, breaks my heart, etc...that person may as well crawl in a hole and die because I put hexes on 'em like Ron Weasley on steroids.

Good thing about living outside of Ohio: Never see hated ex-boyfriends. Never.

This weekend: Going to see, must talk to, must be civil

to
the
snake
of
the
earth
at
a
wedding
beside
a
very
mossy
lake
that
would
be
perfect
for
pushing
someone
into.

All right, Amanda. Calm down.

It's Almost the End

May is almost over and I've stopped crying myself to sleep.

My hell raising students have been extremely well-behaved in these last few weeks, thanks to my genius strategies.

Number One End of the Year Strategy: Bribe with candy. Lots of it.

Number Two End of the Year Strategy: Stick with the same exact schedule. I even gave them a test on Friday. They don't know their grade cards have already been printed.

Other news:

Last year, John and I took this class at church called "Crown Financial." Since then, we have been trying to become completely debt free in three years or less. We made a few other financial goals that seemed practically impossible. But we've been working hard, praying hard, and John has been an amazing budget keeper. Listen to this.

I did get my preschool job for the summer, which is absolutely a work of God. I kid you not, because I absolutely had no way of getting it. Easiest job, so rewarding, so fun, weekends off, only one month long. Two thousand buckaroos in my pocket. Heck yes.

I was offered a new opportunity for next year, instead of the after school program. It's tutoring a group of five kids for 60 dollars an hour. Are you kidding me? It's so much easier than what I do now, and I LOVE working with small groups like that.

John had his one year evaluation a few weeks ago, which means he got a raise. I was expecting a 50 cent raise, a dollar? He got a two dollar raise. Hallelujah!

Don't tell me God ain't in the miracle business.

"Therefore if you have been faithful in the use of worldly wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?" Luke 16:11

check this out: www.crown.org

Top Ten Things My Mother Always Said

10. "Come on douche bag!"

9. "Everybody wants to be me!"

8. "Sara is so much like you!"

7. "I want some General CHO's chicken!"

6. "This room is a disaster! How do you even LIVE in here?!"

5. "I trust my daughter. If she were drinking, she would tell me!" Haha! Good one, mom!

4. "You should show off your best ASSet more often."

3. "If you got it, flaunt it!"

2. "Try it before you buy it!"

1. "I don't know why I even bother talking to you!" :::sniffle:::sob:::

Top Ten Things My Mother Taught Me

10. How to make a latch-hook rug.
9. How to take care of a paralyzed rabbit.
8. How to make meat loaf and twice-baked potatoes.
7. A way to a man's heart is through his stomach.
6. Wear cotton underwear or none at all.
5. Don't shave your thumbs.
4. Don't let pompous a-holes get to you. They'll get what's comin' to 'em.
3. It's okay to pretend to believe in the make-believe sometimes.
2. Don't ever, ever, EVER smoke.
1. God will always provide.

I always feel this way in May.

One wonderful thing about this online journal is looking back. Today I looked back on this week two years ago and one year ago. Can you believe there's a pattern? Every May I'm stressed out because of testing, anxious, summer-ready students, and very sad to be saying goodbye to my best friends.

Yes, my best friends are seven year olds.

Some students I could say I probably do enjoy a little bit more than others, but surprisingly, these are not the ones I have trouble letting go. Usually the kids I most enjoy will do just great in second grade.

Some students break my heart. Students that I know will lie around empty homes most of their summer days. Students that I know will drop two or three reading levels. The ones who are worried about breakfast and lunch--it won't be free over the summer.

I wonder if they know how I pray for them. How I lay awake these last few weeks of school, tears pouring down my cheeks and off my earlobes. I wonder if they know that I would take them home, keep them safe, keep them fed, and make them feel loved if I could. If I could.