Potpourri

As the title suggests, this post covers all sorts of things and as such I couldn't think of any one picture to put with it. Without further ado, here we go:

As I sit here typing, I'm reminded how fortunate I am that Hurricane Ike chose to not pass this way and my wife was largely spared the worry about how the pets and I would handle our first hurricane by ourselves having never been through one before. On the other hand, her parents and Nena live in Houston, so she still has some worrying left to do, I'm sure. Both Kayla and Brenna are safe and sound in Georgia, although in different areas from one another. Kayla is with Billy and Stephanie, helping out with Baby Elijah, and Brenna is having a grand time with Nonnie and G-Daddy, and BJ, Matt and Tasha in the north Georgia mountains. They will be reunited after the weekend to finish out their trip.

The strangest week I've ever worked is finally over, and possibly the strangest part of all occurred last night, when the KC Badgers won their first game of the year after having their backsides handed to them for two straight games. Maybe they should play every Thursday. Key word being "they," just let the bands show up on Fridays still and have an exhibition, without all the mediocre football getting in the way. We did play against one of the stronger band programs in our district last night, though. I always like to hear them because they are able to produce a "wall of sound," which is something easy to talk about and incredibly difficult to put into action. It's good for our kids to hear bands of that caliber, I just wish there were more in the district.

I'm still envious that Kayla gets to go to Compass this Sunday. They are slated to baptize somewhere in the ballpark of 100 people over the next few weeks, and Kayla gets to be there for the first service. I just wish that the church we attend here would show some fire in the way we do church. There is a sweet spirit in the church, but there is no real urgency to reach lost people, or to make the service applicable to everyday life. That's not entirely true. Over the next few weeks, we have a person filling the pastor's spot who does George Washington re-enactments. In fact, he attended the RNC as George Washington and was asked to give the opening Invocation at the start of the convention. He is a very good speaker, and tries very hard to give an applicable message. He will probably be the only reason I'll go to church on Sunday.

My Movie Music classes took their first "Quest" for me today (combination Quiz and Test), and so far have scored really well. All have shown marked improvement over the first quiz I gave them. They weren't able to take the entire test, because we had an early release day today due to the hurricane threat. That meant that I only had my kids for around 30 minutes each period. In that time, however, they were able to complete 3/4 of the test. Really excited that they've done so well, and super excited that hopefully next week, barring water pumps breaking down, or football games getting switched, or hurricanes coming to tear everything apart we should be starting actual movie music!

I'm trying to decide whether or not to stay another year here in KC after this year. When I first took the job, I was considering it to be a 3 year job, that way I could take an initial 6th grade class, and move them all the way through Junior High. I thought this would give me a good gauge as to how effective I had been with them and if they were learning the skills I wanted them to learn. What I was not planning on was having to deal with my co-worker. The first year together, we had such a difficult time together, that at the end of the year, I was contemplating making this year my last year. She was not the only reason, there's also not a lot of cultural or social opportunities for Kayla and Brenna here. The new plan was to put my resume out to a few schools over the Christmas break, and start at the TMEA Convention to begin looking for a job in earnest. The only thing that has changed about the situation is my co-worker has been much better this year and we have gotten along a lot better. Now, I realize it's only 3 weeks into the school year, but we've been working day in and day out together since the beginning of August. So now, I'm trying to decide whether or not to go back to the original plan of 3 years, or continue with the new plan of ending my time at KC this year. Any prayers for guidance would be greatly appreciated.

I think that's about all I have. I've taken care of most of the things on my list for hurricane preparations, and I'm ready to ride out whatever comes this way. Although I think it will only be above average winds. I'll keep everyone informed of all the goings on this week with Kayla and Brenna being gone. Should be an interesting time. Go Dawgs!