Eventful Times!

Happy New Year!
We went to Atlanta to spend Christmas with Walker's family, including our new niece, Piper Grace. New Year's Eve we set up dinner at a table in the living room so we could watch the Auburn game. I pounded out some chicken...cut up bread...chopped herbs...and turned my back for 2 seconds. Reese ate everything-4 raw chicken breasts and all. Luckily I had more in the freezer.

Walker has joined a tennis club and I joined a local gym, so we are getting more involved and active. We went to the Mississippi Sea Wolves hockey game Friday night, which was actually a lot of fun. Saturday night we did a late dinner at TGI Fridays and watched the wild card playoff game. Things are looking up at the moment!

We're still here!

It's been so long since last we wrote...and a lot has happened. Starting with Halloween week, we'll move ahead. Our moms came to visit and gave us a good boost in spirits and motivation. In one day they built shelves and COMPLETELY organized our garage. Talk about amazing!!! They also decorated for fall and helped hand out candy. Yes, they covered themselves with sheets and scared the kids that came by, which was a blast.

November brought wonderful surprises as many of our friends learned of pregnancies, including my sister getting ready for #3! Though I would love for my children to be close in age with Jo's and our friends' children, I'm still not sure about the parenting thing. We're getting lapped at the speed of light, but not willing to rush anything.

October was a record high $$ month for Walker at work-he made more than Panama City, which has been open for years. November was slower (expected around the holidays) but he was assigned a new boss. He now reports to a guy in Jackson, who seems to be really nice and helpful. This has helped decrease stress a megaton.

The kids aren't cutting any slack at school, so I'm on my toes and learning lots. There have been discouraging days, but moments of total enjoyment, so I stay balanced. I'm having to brush up on astronomy right now-I'll be ready to teach it next time around :).

Walker and I should have a new niece by the end of the week, and are thrilled to get to see her this weekend. Here's a pic from Alison and Michael's shower a little while back...with some of the best ladies in America.

For all the history buffs, this weekend marked the first time Walker has helped me decorate for Christmas. We turned our columns into candy canes and hung wreaths in the windows. Simple, yet festive.
Enough for now? I think so. Looking forward to bowl season.

still here...

Since the last post, Walker held a grand opening at his yard. Joy coordinated most of it and came to town to help make it happen. It was a huge success, including a lengthy newspaper article the day before and tv news appearance the evening after. Execs came in from Chicago and the senator sent a rep for the ribbon cutting. Hopefully it will lead to plenty of new business as he has 2 trucks ready to go.

The 8th graders and I have been learning a lot...I have some amazing students this year that I wish you could meet. Without a doubt, this is more challenging than anything I have ever done. Today we learned a song about atoms and went carolling to other classes.

We've been struggling a little bit (a lot) with our move and being away from friends, which is why we haven't been calling you guys. It may not make sense, but we'd rather talk to you guys when we're upbeat and positive. While we stick with the decision to move, it's not easy.

Yesterday marked the two year anniversary of Katrina, as most of you heard on the news. There were other victims we were worrying about yesterday, though, as I learned that the mother of one of my students was shot and killed in her home. Through students we learned that there was a history of domestic violence with the alleged perpetrator, who is the father of 3 out of 5 children in the home. The incident occurred in the middle of the night while the children were there. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Students start Friday! Talk about nervous! Luckily Walker's family was able to come visit and help us relax and get some things done around here. Walker continues to work extremely hard and is on his first fishing trip with customers right now. We'll go to the lake for the first time in a while this weekend-we've heard vines have over taken the house. Please keep in touch!

Back to the grind...

We were able to go to Savannah for our friends Mary and Scott's wedding, then stop and see the Cohens and Kennedys in Tallahassee. If you haven't met Molly yet, you will be amazed by her beauty and luscious lips! The next weekend we got to hang with Stew and Sue, then the Serotskys (Ella is off the charts in height!) It was a great end to a short summer...as I headed back to work yesterday (nerves really kicking in!) Luckily we'll see Walker's family this weekend, and in case you haven't heard, we're getting a niece!

Walker is still struggling with HR stuff-1 of his 4 guys is definitely quitting and 1 is talking about it. It leaves him with the original 2, which are awesome guys and really hard workers. Today was the first inventory and I'm waiting for Walk to come home and debrief (it's almost 7pm). We absolutely appreciate your continued support as we work through this transition (I can't think of a better word...)

Luckily...

You can get gas, booze and hardwoods in one convenient location!

It's been pretty quiet aroud here since our last post. I think Walker would spend the night at the yard if they had a bed and shower. I've been demanding he come home at a decent hour so he can relax and unwind before he has to turn around and go back. The vice prez of his region came this week and was impressed with what's going on. Next week he'll get his 2nd boom truck and be able to take on more business. As of right now, he's keeping the truck he has really busy. It definitely looks like he'll make money this month!

I've cleaned and unpacked my classroom and am starting to get excited about the year (though really nervous, too.) It'll definitely be different from Lanier...

Or neighbors, John and Patsy are ultra awesome and we've hung out with them quite a bit. I was actually over there in the pool yesterday when Walker called-he took me to dinner at the new Hard Rock Casino with the finance manager of his company. Dinner on the company is always way fun! We're headed to Savannah for a wedding by way of Tallahassee tonight. We finally get to meet little Molly Mae!