My job so far...

Day 1:
go into coach's office in new gym ('96) for the first time. no a/c on at the time. clean out closets full of equipment, uniforms, and misc crap. stack all of the random broken hurdles by the football field under the stands. get extremely hot, sweaty, and uncomfortable. go home and collapse.

Day 2:
take a required uil course online with all other coaches in the computer lab. hall a load of crap+diesel to the football field. measure and mark the entire football field with rope. spray marked lines with diesel (to kill the grass in order to paint). leave for lunch, drenched in diesel, sweat, and sunscreen. come back and start all over on the practice field (about 10 yards from my future house). awesome. go home completely high (not by choice).

Day 3:
arrive at 8:00. missing one coach. he's the oldest (in his 50's). hope we didn't kill him yesterday. 8:30 comes....9:00 comes....9:30 comes....call his cell. no answer. call his house (in lubbock). no answer. call his wife's work. she's on vacation out of town. awesome. call lubbock county. no wrecks reported. call lubbock pd to investigate. they say no. what the crap? whatever. we all hop in the car and arrive at his house. can't tell if he is gone or parked in the garage. ring the doorbell 5000 times. beat on the door. go through the gate to the backyard. beat on the door some more. find a neighbor outside. hasn't seen him in weeks. great. we just saw him yesterday. thanks for the help. beat on the door some more. door opens. we awoke the dead. i guess mucinex and nyquil will do it to you.

drag him out of the house. head to cardinal's for shoes and shirt fitting. eat lunch. go back to wilson. clean out the rooms in the old gym covered in dust and ash (from a fire 2 years ago). no ventilation. no a/c. 100 degrees. awesome. leave hot, sweaty, and dirty.

...but i love my job!!

Sad, sad day

Wouldn't you think I would get to drive a bus in Bus Driver Training class? I'm afraid not. The closest I got to driving was getting whip lash in the back of the bus while our instructor demonstrated emergency stopping procedures. (and you think I'm kidding...)

Wish me luck at the DPS on Friday while I take my CDL tests and drive a bus through a course!

**You may want to avoid that area Friday morning**

It's Official!

I signed my contract with the school yesterday! This Friday was going to be my last day at Incode, but I have bus driver training all day Friday and Saturday. Yes, you read that correctly. Me...driving a bus..... :) Our athletic bus is pretty pimp, though....reclining bucket seats and an A/C! So...Monday will be my official last day of work at Incode.

I am so incredibly excited about our new adventure. Michael and I will be moving to podunk, tx...population 532 :) I absolutely cannot wait! My first day to report is July 30th (for coaches). I have inservice starting on August 11th, and then school starts on August 25th!

Let me give you a little info about what I am in for...I will be teaching 6-8 but will only have 3 classroom classes per day. Yes people, that is one class per grade. Each of the Junior High grades have around 13 students. WOW. Get this....the Freshman class only has 2 students! The rest of my day will consist of athletics, a possible elementary PE class, and conference period.

I'm so excited!

God is GOOD!

I had an interview this morning for a position for Junior High Social Studies/Junior High girls coach and I GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!! He called me RIGHT after his last interview today to offer me the position. I am BEYOND excited right now! I start in less than 2 weeks! Coaches start on July 30!

The school is only 18 miles from Lubbock. They offered us to move into a school-owned house for...get this....$50/month! How awesome is THAT?!

If you want to know details, you can email me at melody.mckee@gmail.com .

Sister Vacation 2008

Sister vacation in pictures....




Misti, Amy, Mel, April





Landon @ park





Charlie @ park

Charlie @ park





Jordyn @ Centennial Park





Charlie & Landon @ Centennial Park





Charlie





Jordyn

Landon





Jordyn & Riley





Charlie, Jordyn, Riley, Landon





Charlie, Jordyn, Landon





I Heart Texas

The many faces of Charlie

Why me?

Sister vacation in Georgia was WONDERFUL...more on that later.

So yesterday we were all outside taking pictures of the kids on April's front porch. I was the designated picture-taker. We all go inside for the kids to change into another outfit for more pictures. I lay on the couch to check the disk space on my camera. Instead of cancelling out of format, I clicked ok....erasing ALL 400 pictures I had taken of the vacation. Awesome. I wanted to puke and cry at the same time.

After drowning myself in self-pity, we headed to the airport for my 5:30 flight home. At check in I am told the departure time has been moved to 6:15, but I still have about 30 minutes to make my connecting flight in Dallas. I wander around the airport for a while and make it back to my gate...departure time has moved to 6:45...I have 5 minutes to make my connecting flight. Right. I begged the AA rep to get me home that night. My flight was the last scheduled flight from Dallas to Lubbock. UGHHHHHHHH. They switch me to Continental and reroute me through Houston. If my butt would have been an inch wider, I wouldn't have fit in the freakin' seat! (which was, by the way, in the LAST row by the bathroom...middle seat. Once again, awesome.) I manage to get through the 2 hour flight from Atlanta to Houston...barely. The flight from Houston to Lubbock was fine...very small express jet, but fine. I arrive to the airport with no one in site except for the other passengers from the flight. We make it to the baggage claim, and I meet Michael there. Hugs all around. The luggage starts to come out. The other passengers quickly grab their bags and leave....I am still there....waiting on my bag....the carousel stops. Awesome. I find someone to wake up the Continental rep. Yes, I said "wake up." She comes out...my luggage didn't arrive on my flight nor the AA flight I was supposed to come in on. Awesome. All the closes that fit me are in that bag! What the crap?? So I run to Wal-Mart this morning just to find something propriate to work.

Seriously?

Seriously??

So...I am working the 7-4 shift this week so I can make it to my 5:20 flight today (sister vaca in GA). My alarm goes off...get up, take shower, look at my phone...52 after. CRAP! I'm going to be late! I walk out of the bathroom to tell Michael bye and it is WAY darker in the house than it usually is at 6:52 in the morning. I look at the clock again.....5:52. WHAT?? Seriously??
Ughhhhh.....if you know me well, you KNOW I love my sleep.
So what is a fat girl to do this early in the morning? I think Krispy Kreme is calling my name.

PS...my toilet phone officially died yesterday. I had to run to At&t between jobs yesterday to get a new phone...it is the crappiest phone they have. I didn't want to pay 200.00 for a phone that I can get on eBay for less than half that!

Specific prayer request

I heard back from the school in town that I interviewed with for a 6th grade ELA/coaching position. They have filled the position but are expecting another position to open up in a couple of weeks and would like to discuss the possibilities of that position with me.

Please pray that this door will open for me. It would be an answered prayer to be able to teach at a school in town and still be able to work my second job on occasion if I need to. In order to complete my certification program within the time limit that I was given, I must obtain a teaching position for this fall.

Thank you!

The Bachelorette

Is it just me, or is she completely OUT OF HER MIND???? I was so mad, irritated, and completely SHOCKED that she chose Jesse over Jeremy! WHAT THE CRAP??
I usually don't get TOO into the reality dating shows but COME ON! I was so sad for Jeremy.

I need reassurance that I'm not the only one, people!

Ugh.

So I fall asleep on the couch with Michael while watching a movie last night. I wake up at the end...find my way upstairs (halfway asleep)....find the toilet in the dark to pee before getting into bed...and....
DROP my phone in the toilet. Seriously? UGh....amazingly...it still works.

I have an interview tomorrow for a MS ELA/Coaching position for a school in town. PLEASE pray that this one works out. It is exactly what I am looking for and MORE!

I also have an interview Wednesday at a school about an hour from here. Though the commute would be horrible, it is possible...so pray for that as well :)

Yesterday was hard. My baby Charlie left me :( Michael and I kept him all weekend and soaked up as much cuddle time as possible before they headed across the country yesterday. We kept him up late both Friday and Saturday nights just to love on him. HE was the one telling us he wanted to go nigh-night. My bad.

Today is a good day. I could cry, but I'm not going to. I have a lot to look forward to in the next couple of months. In 10 days I leave for a sister vacation in Georgia! All 4 of us sisters (with all kids in tow...well, Max has to stay at home) are heading to April's house to play with Riley! I absolutely cannot wait. I get a couple of days of Riley-time by myself before Amy and Misti get there. You better believe I'm going to cuddle with her all day!

I am also waiting to hear back from an interview I had for a middle school teaching position. I sent out 7 more applications at the end of last week, so hopefully some interviews will come from that as well.

In the middle of July, I head out of town for a best-friends-from-college weekend :) + a new addition (baby Mason).

See...I have a lot to look forward to! Yesterday was still one of the hardest days in my life thus far.

This is merely to vent...

After almost a year, it doesn't get any easier. I get to work this morning and immediately get an email from our team leader that she and her husband are expecting their first baby after only trying a couple of months. Really? Are you kidding me? I immediately start sobbing and have to go to my car just to calm down.

Does it get any easier? I guess not since I headed straight for Mc Donald's for lunch....not having ANY thought of my weight loss plan in mind. I just needed something to comfort me :)

But seriously...WHY? This is obviously rhetorical. I don't want any encouragement, blessings, thoughts.....actually I do....but not on here. This isn't why I am writing. I just need to get my thoughts out. Michael and I kept missing each other on the phone so I wasn't able to talk to the only person that understands ME. Yes, I know there are many (far too many) people that understand where I am coming from....but you don't know ME.

We are having a baby shower tomorrow here at work for one of my other co-workers expecting in August. I asked her, selfishly, if she minded I not come. She understands.

I made the choice yesterday to change my life. Up until this point, I have been completely miserable in my own skin. Why you ask? Because I have gained 60 pounds in the last 2 1/2 years. What in the world?

So, I am starting this new blog....for my new journey. I am on my way to being 60 pounds lighter.

I also confess that before today, Michael and I hadn't been to church in quite a while. I no longer had a valid excuse....I just didn't want to go. There were so many points during worship that I could have broken down in tears....so many emotions running through me.

In 7 days, my sister and her family will be moving 1500 miles away from me when I am used to them only being a couple minutes away. I knew I would start crying as soon as I began writing this.... I can't even begin to describe what Amy means to me. She is way more than a sister. She is one of my best friends. She and Andy have done so much for me, and I know I will never be able to repay even half of it. Charlie has filled the void that Michael and I have delt with this past year after losing a baby. I am going to miss the 3 of you more than you will ever know. I love you.