Tutoring

Last night after church Travis came over so we could finish watching Runaway Bride and to do our study. We went without watching the final episode of Project Runway. We usually watch the show at Sarah and Kim's house. Sarah is out of town until Saturday night so we are going to fight the urge to find out the winner until Sunday.

At about 9:30 there was a knock on my door. I immediately tensed up because the only one who knocks on my door is Travis and he was already inside. Travis went to look out the peep hole and said it was one of the neighbor boys. It happened to be the little boy (he has told me his name and I don't remember) who always says hello to me. We was standing there with a piece of paper. I assumed he was doing a fundraiser for school, but I was pleasantly surprised when he asked if I would help him with his homework!

His little sister and mom were there too. The homework was over different vowel sounds. The family is either Pakistani or Indian so I'm sure this type of homework is rather difficult--heck it's difficult for people who speak English as their native tongue. So Travis and I helped him figure out which word went with which sentence. My co-workers said that I should start a tutoring business for the neighbor kids.

Highlights of Homecoming

We had such a wonderful weekend! I enjoyed seeing and spending time with everyone. Saturday we were going non stop from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Here are some highlights of the eventful weekend.

* Travis making fun of me for thinking the gray farm road on the map was faster than the red highway. (The gray road went straight across, the red one went down and then back up--sheesh)

* Seeing everyone at the ACU parade and Travis's mentor standing right next to the SPF group.

* Fantastic game of Ultimate at 10:30 in the morning. We still got it. Thankfully no momentous injuries--just a few cuts and bruises.

* Lunch with the Abilene girls at Chili's. It was so fun to have almost all of us back together.

* The musical was fantastic! It definately made up for Sussical last year. Singing in the Rain is one of my favorite movies so I was ecstatic to see ACU perform it. And I always enjoy an excuse to get all gussied up :)

* Knowing our group we had to have special picture time after the musical. Which moreso equates to 1 large group picture then 50 pictures of just the girls!

* It was great to attend Highland Sunday morning and see alot of people I have missed. I realize that I have grown out of Highland. I love A&M Church of Christ so much! It has the same family/college feel to it but I feel like there are more opportunities to get involved--especially in the college group.

* After church Travis met the grandmothers at Lytle Land and Cattle for lunch. My mom told me late that he received "rave reviews" from both grandmothers--as I knew he would!

* Alright--here comes the favorite story of the weekend:
I mentioned that Travis saw his mentor at the parade. When I was introduced to him I mentioned that he looked familiar. He told me that for years he has lead groups at the ACU camps. I then remembered that I was in his group back in the day. One year he brought Travis along to help teach. As the weekend went on Travis and I kept thinking about this. I tried to find my group picture from camp but was unable to. I did find pictures I took during that week. When Travis looked at them he started recognizing alot of the kids. When we got back to his apartment in College Station he found his camp picture. And there it was--Travis was my teacher in 1996! I was in 7th grade and he was in 10th grade. It is pretty amazing!

Info

* In about 3 hours Travis and I will be leaving for Abilene! I'm still trying to decide if I want to take my usual path down highway 6 or mix it up a little and try highway 36...hmmm.

* Last night I drove home in a stinking crazy rain storm. I literally could not see the road and a lot of the time wasn't sure I was on the road. Thankfully I made it home in one piece.

* Today we had a tour of 4th and 5th graders. Anne and I had to sit a moment and remember how to give a tour. Once we started it all came back to us. These kids were so wonderful--very polite, attentive, and inquisitive. My favorite question: Could someone ride a horse inbetween the shooting (asking about the Battle of the Alamo)? Answer: Well, they might get shot.

* I love that cooler weather is here! Last night at our devo I was nice and bundled up in my comfy sweatshirt. This morning I bought instant hot choclate (with baby marshmellows) for work.

* My dad has a conference in Orlando in early November. So he is using his flier miles to bring all of us out there for the weekend. We will get to spend 2 days in Disney World! I'm pretty excited! I do have to fly by myself though. It should be interesting but also thrilling at the same time. I think I've been on a plane 3 times in my life so I get excited when I ride them.

No Title

Yesterday was a day filled with children. We had our Home School Days program at the museum. Over the course of the day we had about 60 children filtered through for us to talk to about chores in the 1830's and help them make toys from the time period. I did the morning session and my kids were so cute! The majority of them dressed up in clothes from the time period. Most of the little girls had on long dresses and cute little bonnets. One little boy had the complete Davy Crockett get-up on--including moccasins and a coon skin hat. At one point in the program I choose a little girl to dress up in the clothes of the time period. This time was hard because they were already dressed up. Both the morning and the afternoon sessions went well. All of the kids were very well behavied and listened intently.

Once work was over I had to rush home and get everything ready to teach my kindergarten class at church. Somehow it has worked out to where everytime we have Home School program I also have to teach that evening. It leads to a very tiring day (but enjoyable). We had 15 kids in class and I think they all had caffinee and sugar for dinner. By the end of class they were running all around, one girl was all over the floor pretending to be a sheep, and glue was all over the tables. Whoo! I was very happy to relax with Travis, Sarah, and Kim watching Project Runway.

Tomorrow after work Travis and I are leaving for Abilene! I am so excited. I think I have been ready for this since September. Plans for ultimate, dinners with friends, the musical, seeing my family, seeing the changes at ACU and Abilene have me so excited!

Wake Me Up Before You Go

Last night I helped take care of Travis who apparently now has the same stuff I had/still have. I didn't do as great of a job as he did with taking care of me--he was wonderful!

I also had to make a cake last night for a coworker's birthday. After baking the cake I had a wave of tiredness come over me. It was only 9:00 but I could not stay awake. I defiantly argued that I was not tired at all--how could I be after licking the remains in the batter bowl and in the icing cup? I should have been bouncing off the walls after consuming so much sugar. Once I got home I was in bed by the reasonable time of 10:30.

I heard my alarm go off at 6:20 and quickly hit the snooze button--I typically snooze until 6:50. The next time I woke up a feeling of panic went through my body. There was a lot more light coming into my room than there typically is at 7:00 in the morning. I then looked at my clock and saw the problem--It was 8:05! I was suppose to be on the road headed to work so I could be there by 8:30. I took one of the fastest showers known to man or woman. I was ready within 30 minutes and made it to work a little after 9:00. Sheesh! I almost made it a year without missing my alarm.

____

This morning I had a lady call inquiring about one of our programs. She wanted to only come to half of the program which was a rather odd request. So I put her on hold while I asked my boss about it. Apparently this lady had something more important to do or just did not like being put on hold. When I came back she didn't hear my click back on because I heard her say in a rather mean tone, "Come on lady. Why am I on hold for so long?" I waited about 2 seconds and in my sugary sweet voice said, "Hello Ms. Moody." Of course her tone of voice changed completely once she knew I was back on the phone, but little does she know I caught her true colors shining through.

Fog and Black Outs

On Monday, against my will, I went to the doctor to have things checked out--even though I felt super better than the previous days. Someone pushed me to visit the doctor--like calling me at my appointment time to make sure I was there. But I admit that it was in my best interest to go see the doctor and get all this stuff taken care of (are you happy--I put it in writing).

The medicine I was prescribed was one of the biggest pills I have ever seen. I took the pill right after my shower and didn't start feeling the strange effects until I had already started driving to work. The medicine made me incredibly dizzy and loopy--it felt like the room was spinnng. This is not good when you have to drive on a very busy highway. It also doesn't help when on that particular day there is fog thick enough to cut with a knife. My drive to work on Tuesday was very exciting to say the least. My dizzy/loopy state did not get under control until about 2:00 that afternoon. Once I got home I noticed the label on my pills: Medication may impair your ability to drive or operate machinery--oops!

When I returned home yesterday I went to pick up my contacts. I noticed that the traffic lights were acting a little screwy. At one moment they would be blinking red, then they would turn solid green, but then 5 seconds later turn back to blinking red. No one knew what to do or whose turn it was to go. Knowing this town and some of the crazy drivers, I wanted to get home before I got stuck in an accident. From what I heard a generator had gone out causing black outs all over the city. Travis was without electricity in his apartment and had tried calling me to see if I had electricity. The black outs must have affected the cell phones as well because he says he called 4 or 5 times and I never heard my phone ring. Because of the messed up traffic lights, his drive to my house, which usually takes 10-15 minutes, was about 30 minutes. Luckily our church had electricity for our bible studies but before we were finished all of the lights went out. Thankfully some of the girls brought flashlights as a precaution. By the time our bible study was over both of our apartments had full electrical capacity, but some parts of town were without electricity for quite awhile.

I enjoyed the evening events--I find it exciting when the electricity or some other mishap occurs!

Stressful Week

This week was very busy and stressful at work. Actually my work wasn't all that stressful but because I had so many things to do each day it caused me a lot of stress. I believe this stress, busyness, and lack of sleep has caused me to contract a bit of a cold. I feel very lousy today as I sit at my work desk. I have to keep telling myself that my weekend is almost here.

This week Anne and I spent two days at Blinn College in Bryan giving a special program to the Texas History classes. I had never given this program or seen it. I have become very use to speaking in front of a group of elementary or middle school aged children but this was different. These were people who were 2-5 years younger than me--not much of an age difference. Monday we had 6 classes to present to. Anne did the first 2 classes to allow me to watch and drink in the information. I gave the next 2 and did a pretty good job. Once I got going I wasn't nervous at all. That day we did not leave campus until 7:00. I was exhausted.

Wednesday was another long and tiring day. We had our program for home school children--again a program I have never given but have seen a couple times. I did the morning session and Judy did the afternoon session. This lasted until about 3:00. I was completely wiped out. But I couldn't relax after work--It was my week to teach the kindergarten class at church. By the end of the evening I was almost delirious.

Then the very next day I had to go to Blinn again to make presentations in 4 more classes. Luckily that day Anne and I ended at 4:00. During the presentations on this day my throat was starting to clog a bit and I had a rather annoying cough. Friday I was able to just sit all day at my desk and catch up on everything I had missed this week. My allergy/cold symptoms became a bit worse that morning. I took some Clariton at lunch and felt a lot better as the afternoon went on. That evening a group of us were going to the Woodlands to hear the Houston Symphony. I almost told Travis I couldn't make it but I felt so much better I was sure I could make it. Well, I slept on the way there. At the concert we sat on blankets on a grassy knoll. Symphonic music has a very relaxing feel and when you are already tired it is not a good combination. I laid down the entire time, listening to the music but also sleeping. I felt so weird afterwards--I was tired, weak, and phlegmy. We ate at Bennigan's after the concert. I ordered potato soup and after eating slept while everyone else finished. Again on the way home I slept. It got to the point that I felt so tired and weird that I wanted to start crying.

This morning I didn't feel the tired weird feeling but I still have some allergy problems. I'm just trying to make it through the work day now.

*Travis has been so wonderful this week (not that he isn't every week). He has been there every night to help me destress and relax. He also has been taking care of me in my sick state. I don't know what I would have done without him.

Road Trip

Last Sunday Travis and I took a little road trip to Conroe. I was super excited about this mainly because I enjoy spending time with him! Our mission that day was to take a couch to his brother, Cody. I met his brother 3 or so weeks ago when he came through College Station. Their old roommate Scott was there too, who I also had met before. But the special guest of the day was going to be Travis's dad who I had not met yet. Was I little nervous about that? Truth be told yes, but after spending an hour or so with Travis, Cody, and Scott the nervousness went away. I probably was a little quieter than usual when his dad came--I think I was trying to give a good first impression. I'm just not use to the cold turkey meeting the parents. But it went very well and I like his dad alot! I really enjoyed watching the interaction between Travis, Cody and their dad. I come from a family of girls and don't experience male bonding much. The Bodeker men are a wonderful bunch and I look forward to getting to know them better!

Update

Once again I have slacked off from my blog. So here are some updates:

Saturday

I worked and helped with a small teacher workshop. That evening wonderful Travis cooked chicken alfredo--it was so good. I seriously think I could have eaten all of it by myself. After eating we watched the intense A&M vs. Army game. During the last 4 minutes of the last quarter my entire body was completely tensed up. I didn't watch the last 19 seconds because I was so nervous. But we won--yeah!

Sunday

We had an interesting time at church Sunday. Right at the end of class the electricity in the entire building went out. Everyone made there way to the auditorium. Our preacher was yelling as loud as possible (no microphones) the instructions for the morning: sing a few songs, take communion, and leave. Of course that day I wore a longer sleeved shirt because it is usually cold.

Monday

I had to go to the dentist. It's been way too long. One of the new things they had (or new since I've been to the dentist) was a small camera that took pictures of my teeth and then projected them on a tv screen. Truth be told I could have lived a happy life without seeing my teeth. Apparently part of my filling has come out and I have to get it replaced next week--not looking forward to that.

Tuesday

We had a reception for a group of Chinese people--I think they might have been professors. The reception was from 4-6 and we had to stay the whole time. We ended up leaving the museum at 6:30 which meant I got home close to 7:00. I then changed, ate a little something and headed off to my girl's bible study.
Fun Story: Travis picked my up for bible study (he attends men's bible study). Our study finished before the guys-way before. Our GAP class was meeting for coffee at 9:00. So instead of waiting I wrote a fun little note and left it on Travis's truck (my purse was held captive inside the vehicle along with my phone). I then rode with Amanda Scott to coffee. Travis showed up 5 or so minutes later. He enjoyed the note--you know you liked it, Travis!

Stuck

Yesterday from 3:30 to closing I sat at the front desk with Virgie and Leigh Ellen. Leigh Ellen is one of the 3 interns we have this semester who are helping label artifacts found at San Felipe. While doing their main task they will also learn about the other areas of the museum. This week it was the front desk. While talking with her, Houston came out asking for the big Texas map. He told me that we had to find an alternate route to get back to College Station. Our usual route is to go down Highway 6. Apparently earlier that afternoon there had been a major accident involving 3 semi-trucks and 3-4 cars. I believe on the news they reported there were 5 deaths. The traffic on 6 was at a complete standstill. Accidents are quite common on this highway so we have a back country road we take that bipasses the highway 6 problems. Well, it just so happened that on this road there was a train derailment. We ended up having to go up to Anderson and catch highway 30 back to town. This added an extra 30 minutes to our route...which is better than an extra hour and a half.

Bullets

I don't really feel like writing a paragraph form blog today. So enjoy the bullets of random stuff!

* Heard on the news today that cases of e coli have been linked to bagged spinach leaves. I immediately threw mine out. (Not that I have eaten any in awhile)

* This morning I woke up 20 minutes early with unbelievable stomach cramps. It was a little unnerving when I saw that was one of the symptoms of e coli. But my pains stopped quickly after my Malox kicked in.

* It's possible those stomach pains came from eating lots of sugary items for dinner. We had a knit out with finger foods. Well the majority of the foods were cookies and cakes.

* I'm so excited about Hey Day tonight! Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, and drive-in movie: The Sandlot. What more could you want?

* I am also getting excited about ACU Homecoming and seeing lots of my old college friends...even though it is still a month away.

* Saw Matthew Perry on the Today Show. I think he has recently been added to my favorite celebs list. He seems so nice and funny. I really want to watch his new tv show.

* Travis is so wonderful! Almost every day I receive a text message or an email from him which makes my day! He is so sweet and considerate. But he also can crank out the sass (which I enjoy) and I can crank it right back at him. We really have a lot of fun together. I'm very happy!

*

Close Call

Sometimes on my 30 minute drive home from work I talk with my mom on my cell phone. On some weeks this is my best opportunity to talk with her because my evenings tend to get jam packed with stuff. There is a part of the highway that is under construction and traffic is directed off the highway onto the feeder road. While on this road the speed limit is 55. While talking with my mom I didn't really take in my surroundings. I was on the 55 mph road when I happened to look in my rearview mirror and see a highway patrolman on my bumper. I then looked down to see that I was going 65. I told my mom, in a frantic hurry, that I had to get off. So I quickly slow down and try to look as innocent as possibly. When I moved over for the patrolman to pass I realize it wasn't just one patrol car but 4 behind me!!! It looked like they were on a mission to get somewhere...otherwise I'm pretty sure they would have pulled me over. Once they passed I called my mom back and told her what happened. She laughed and was very glad I wasn't in a car accident. As I talked with her for the second time I exited the highway into College Station. As I neared the red light I suddenly was behind the same 4 patrolmen. So, out of fear, I told my mom I would call her tomorrow. Sheesh!


I am in lament today for Kayne who was sadly kicked off Project Runway last night. A moment of silence in reverence...

More Adult Experiences

(This is my 200th post--whoop!)

Yesterday I experienced something new as an on-my-own adult. I had my first doctor's appointment that I set up and I paid for. My contacts were on their last legs--and I had stretched their use way beyond what it should be. So it was time to bite the bullet and see the eye doctor. The first problem was who do I go to? The secretary at work mentioned a place so I called Monday morningish. I expected to have to schedule a time later in the week but the lady said they could see me at 11:30. I was amazed at how much it cost just for a routine checkup--even with insurance! And I go back next Tuesday to get my contacts--I have no idea how much that will be. And next week I have a dentist appointment. It never ends.

Tonight: Girl's Bible Study (super excited!)
Wednesday: Teach my little kindergarteners about the Plagues (also Project Runway)
Thursday: Knit Out (going up to church to spend time knitting with other ladies)
Friday: Hey Day with the GAP class (dinner and drive-in movie)
Saturday: rest?

Pellet Guns, Bites, and Blood

Last night I went over to Travis's after church. We ate sandwhiches for dinner and then he read Plato's Republic for his class while I read The Screwtape Letters. It was calm and serene but that was going to change...

We heard Tong and Leigh from the other room and went to see what was happening. In the comotion I noticed Travis grabbing the pellet gun and getting ready to shoot Leight. Well, of course I had to protect her so while he still had the gun down, pointed at his leg, I pulled the trigger. He was so shocked that I had shot him. As I was leaving the room, I soon felt this quick, sharp pain on my backside. He shot me in the butt! The craziness died down and we went back to reading.

Then we heard Leigh yelling for help. When I heard her I said I would come help but someone decided to keep that from happening. Travis threw me over his shoulder and started to take me out to the living room (on the way down the hall he happened to hit my head on the wall). Tong was trying to keep Leigh pinned down on the couch. To keep me from helping Travis did the same with me. It's not fair that boys are stronger than girls. I fought as hard as I could but he kept tickling. He finally got me by sitting on my legs and holding my arms in a crossed position. I was stuck.

Things got even more fun when Leigh and I started to play dirty. It started when Leigh bit Tong really hard--she left teeth marks! So Travis got some ice for the injury and kept a piece for himself. He then put the ice down my pant leg and it traveled quite a ways up my leg. I got it out and was trying my hardest to get it down his shirt but he is just to strong! So I got creative. I started coughing in a way that it sounded like I was choking and he immediatly had me stand up. I was free and quickly stuck the ice down his shirt. But apparently when my hand went to put the ice down I accidently hit him in the the face causing him to bite the inside of his lip, drawing some blood.

What a great night!

The Game

The game Saturday was incredibly amazing! I have never been to a football game like that before. Our tickets were in the zone, which is the section that is on the north side of the field, and we were on the 3rd deck--the highest one! Thankfully the section we sat in was for Alumni which meant we got to sit during the game whereas the students stand for the whole time. With all the walking and climbing stairs that we did my calves have been very tight for the past 2 days--but the pain is worth it!

By Myself

Yesterday afternoon I received an IM message from Travis telling me he was packing up for Dallas. His job requires him to travel to other hospitals and take notes on their program. I have to admit I was a little sad when he said he wouldn't be here. I spent the evening going to stores I hadn't been to in awhile--just trying to pass the time. I then drove to the 9:00 devo the AFC has on campus. Travis usually drives and I guess I have never noticed how he goes because once I reached campus I had no idea how to get to the parking garage...or how to get to the Academic building from the garage. So I had to call him and get directions. And then I found out I was one building away from the garage--grrr! But he comes back today...yeah!

I talked with my sister, Traci, last night and found out that Monday evening around 11:30 she had to take a trip to the emergency room. She was working on a book cover for a contest at the fair. She was using an exacto knife and somehow sliced her leg. From the way she was talking, it sounded like there was a lot of blood. I'm so glad I wasn't there--I don't do well in those situations. She had to get some stitches and as of last night her foot was swelling a little.

Game Time

Yesterday afternoon at work I just happened to glance at my cell phone to see if anyone had called. Usually at my desk I don't receive service but there was a text message waiting for me. The message, from Travis, read "What would you say if I told you I had tickets to the next game?" My reply back was "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Apparently he wasn't sure what that meant: his next text said "Is that a yes?" The whole rest of the day I was so excited! So before Saturday I need to learn the yells and get me a maroon shirt!

I'm so excited--I'm going to an A&M football game!!!!

Super Good!

This weekend went wonderfully! I was so nervous about Travis meeting my parents but everything was great. I had him come over to my apartment at 6:45 so we could head to dinner. At 6:40 I positioned myself in front of my door, looking out the peephole. I wanted to go meet him outside and walk with him so he didn't have to come in alone. He was perfectly fine about the whole thing. We went to eat at Cheddars and he told stories about A&M and my parents and sisters told stories about me (thankfully not anything bad). After dinner we went back to my apartment and talked for awhile.

Sunday my family came to the GAP (Graduates and Young Professionals) class. Travis was teaching and I was afraid my family would make him nervous but he said it was fine for them to come. He has taught our class twice before but I have always been out of town. So this was my first time to hear him and he did an absolutely wonderful job!

We all went to Sunday lunch at On the Border. Then that evening after church we all went to Freebirds. On Sunday anytime we drove anywhere my sisters jumped in the back seat of Travis's truck. He introduced them to some Weird Al Yankovich songs which they loved. Automatically he started joking and bantering them which is exactly what they like.

He told me he really enjoyed meeting my family and liked them. And in return my family really liked him. My mom was the only one to voice the acceptance (at dinner on Saturday Travis went to the bathroom and my mom said "I like him")but I could tell from the other family members' actions that they approved.

A Great Surprise!

My Saturday work day started out as they usually do. This morning I was immersed in a new project--I have been asked to create a program for Boy Scouts to earn their Texas Badge. As it got close to lunch time, Ketra, who works the front desk, came in to tell me someone upstairs needed help. My first thought was someone was hurt, but she said someone had a question about something in a case. (I have mixed feelings when this happens because often times I don't know the answer to their question and I feel bad). So I made my way up the ramp. When I got to the top I didn't see any one up there. I heard someone in the boat and was about to walk over there when someone else came from behind one of the exhibits. It was Travis! He brought a picnic lunch for us and then got Ketra to help him surprise me. It was the best! Over the past 2 weeks he has been figuring out what I like so he would know what to bring. He made me a plain chicken sandwhich on wheat bread with Chex Mix, grapes, and oatmeal cookies. He has definatly earned many points for this!!

Tonight he is eating dinner with my family--exciting!

Friday Stuff

So the girl who use to have my job got married in November and moved to California. Her mother works the front desk part time so we get to hear all that is going on with her. We were some of the first to find out she was pregnant and due in October. Yesterday we received an email that she had been admitted to the hospital, 6 weeks early. The baby boy was born healthy at 5 pounds 3 ounces.

The women in the office began telling stories of their pregnancies (the one male at the museum was gone for the day). After hearing those stories I am perfectly fine with not having children for quite awhile.

Last night we had our first 9:00 devo on campus. I've really missed these over the summer. As we were walking to the devo, Travis and I walked past Kyle Field. We saw all the lights lit up and the big screen on, getting ready for the game tomorrow. I HAVE to go to a game sometime this semester!