I moved again this past weekend. I am now in a townhouse which is proving a little challenging to figure out where to put things, especially in the kitchen. I've moved enough that you would think I could remember to check things like how big the cabinets are before I sign a lease. Not that I regret moving into this particular unit. It has a double carport and most of the furniture can stay downstairs. Putting together the puzzle of kitchenware is a bit stressful for us who are a bit OCAR (obsessive-compulsive-anal-retentive).
I was very fortunate though to have lots of great help moving in. So thanks to Bobby, Meredith, Shane, Keith, Dan, Lucas, and my daddy. I've also decided there is a special place in heaven for my mom. Not only did she help move me, she cleaned the heck out of my kitchen and bathrooms, including putting in shelving paper. She is an amazing woman who is way too willing to clean for me:).

As I was doing my usual perusal of internet fodder for the morning, I came across this little gem. There is a fabulous mash up of Barak doing "Never Going to Give You Up." Well worth the time to watch it.

Second on the agenda: I accepted a new position yesterday. I am now a Career/Academic Counselor at the college. Now it's a matter of figuring out how this transition is going to work. Since I'm still on campus and my co-worker is leaving as well, I feel I need to help out my other co-work while we look for replacements. Plus, I really would like a chance for closure with some of my students. I really will hate not working with them, but the extra money is helping me cope. So now we all need to pray my new place is ready for me to move into this Saturday.

Yep, my brother, the Pirate. I call him the pirate because of his mad skills with the computer programs. Dan has helped me convert some of my favorite Scrubs and Office episodes to a mp4 format for my trusty ipod. So to thank him for getting some videos on a dvd for our recent trip with the kids, I got him this pirate patch at ECU. He sports it well. Hats off to ye, matey.

We just got back from NY with 6 girls from the program and here are some of my photos from this fun trip.
I'm not sure why there was this sign on this door, but it struck me funny. Since we did take 6 females and no males, the girls thought it equally hilarious and we took many pictures of them in front of this door in a side alley in Chinatown. These kids are surrounding a bucket full of frogs. Yep, live frogs. We then got to discuss the joys of frog legs and why a person would buy live frogs in Chinatown. Just like tiny chicken legs.
We did a myriad of things during this trip. Here's a run down:
-Walked from Battery Park to Chinatown
-Saw Phantom of the Opera (Fantastic, btw, especially since I got tickets for $25)

-Times Square and Empire State
-Columbia University tour
-Ate large slices of pizza
-United Nations tour-Grand Central Station
-5th Avenue
-St. Patrick's Cathedral

-Rockefeller Center
-Scholastic, Inc.
It was a whirlwind 3 days, but very fun. I've learned how to hail a cab and how to haggle in Chinatown. That was actually very fun and a little addictive. If I had more money that could have been dangerous. It's these types of trips w/ the kids that make me love my job even more.
However, with that said, I may be making a move to another position for Career Counselor. Say a prayer as God pulls things together.

Keith, Todd, and I drove down to Florida this past Thursday night/Friday morning. I say that b/c we didn't roll into Chris and Allison's until 3 am, but it was all totally worth it. It was a great weekend hanging out with lots of friends. All of Keith's buddies from college came into town so I got to meet them and he got to meet the Hall-Hall's. I also met his brother, Steve, and family which completes the meeting of the immediate family. Everyone was very nice and quite entertaining. I learned that you can fortificate during the game of Risk which apparently leads to mulitplying. Very educational all the way around. I also got a nice sunburn, which means I'm finally getting some color for the year. I really don't mind seeing as I haven't had one in a while and I feel it's just part of the summer. We celebrated Natalie's 2nd birthday at the park.
This is Natalie at the end of her opening present extravaganza. She put this bathing suit on over her clothes, did a little dance (which worried Chris and Allison...of course, we know that Chris probably taught her how to shake her shoulders like that), and got a tricycle which is why she's wearing this massive helmet. Of course, this outfit is just par for the course.
I will say I am very impressed with Chris' chef skills. He spent all day Friday in his "She married me for my cooking" apron, baking cupcakes, making homemade icing, and decorating this cake. Who knew he had so many talents? It was a very good cake.
This is my new friend, Nicole. She is fabulous, mostly b/c she poses like this for pictures. But we discovered we are kindred spirits and enjoyed bantering for the weekend. This final pose is Natalie and her Auntie Heather. Speaking of great outfits, I came to the kitchen that morning to Natalie in tennis shoes and her diaper. I mean, that outfit will work on so many levels and so many occasions. Since she's in the middle of potty training, they put her big girl pants on her because we don't pee on the monkeys. Those are words to live by.

So I got home last night around midnight from Greensboro, took a shower, got ready for bed, and took Shirley out one last time as per our ritual. Well since we're at mom and dad's I didn't put her leash on. We go on the back porch and I tell her to go pee. She points at something in the woods, which should have been my first clue, but what can I say, I don't normally have to worry about such things. I again remind her to go pee. Then she takes off into the woods. She runs around a tree and the next thing I know there's a skunk charging towards me. You wouldn't think a small furry animal would strike such fear into your heart, but realizing the smell that could emit from this thing, I flip out and run back inside the house. Well, the skunk goes down the sidewalk. Shirley comes back on the porch for a second where I tried to get her to come in, but as soon as I open the door again she takes that as her cue to hunt down the skunk. So she takes off...I try to find some shoes and a flashlight and subsequently her...all while trying to be quiet b/c mom and dad are definitely asleep by now. A few minutes later she comes back to the house will yellow dots above her eyes where she has been sprayed. So I throw her in the bathtub (before she runs into mom and dad's room) and rinse her eyes out...the left one was all puffy and dilated. Then I had to wake mom up to help me clean her. So mom gets this mixture of peroxide, baking soda, and dish soap together and we slather it on Shirley, which thankfully, did help. However, the skunk must have sprayed right behind the laundry room b/c the rest of the house on my end stunk. So we set out bowls of vinegar to absorb the smell. All in all, it was a much more eventful night than I had planned on. So I called in and slept a little longer this morning...but not that much longer b/c at 7:30 I found a tick crawling on me. Not the way you want to wake up. So here's to hoping that vinegar and fabreeze air freshener work.

Last week, we took 38 6th graders to Lees-McRae for a mini-college. Our goal is to get them to enroll in college after they graduate and we try to get them excited now and realize what they have to do throughout high school to get there. Of course, we have the normal problems of text messaging and taking the free snacks we brought and hording them. We also had to keep a watch on the vending machine. I decided there must be some sort of god living in the vending machine that the kids felt compelled to worship by giving it money. It didn't matter what time it was, if we were getting ready to have a meal, just finished a meal, or if it was 11 o'clock at night...they HAD to get something from the vending machine. By the last day, I realized that there was a god in there controlling their minds and making them give it more money. We still had a good time with the usual things to do. I got to spend most of Thursday outside playing volleyball and frisbee. It's those days I'm reminded why I love my job so much.