Mrs. Wakefield, how old are you?

All 5 of my classes asked me the above question on the first day of school. My response: old enough! However, I couldn't help but ask myself the same thing! Am I really old enough to be teaching a room full of sophomores?

My first week of school went amazingly well! I already love my kids so much! Even though I shouldn't play favorites (and will never let it show), I've already found a few who I can tell will be my treasured students of the year. The Lord has shown Himself so faithful this week: He's provided me with great, FUNNY students, a team of teachers who are welcoming and helpful, and a husband who has encouraged me greatly every single day this week.

It gave me such a rush to finally teach a lesson (even though my teaching this week was probably the worst these students have ever experienced)! I know that my teaching will improve; I was just thrilled that I felt at home doing what I did this week. I have never really doubted that God placed me here to minister to high school students, but this week He confirmed my calling through the smiles of my students, through the little Brigade member who stayed after school Thursday afternoon to talk to me, and through the excitement I felt when my students gave the correct answers during lesson times.

However, even though my first week was great, I am EXHAUSTED!!!! It's tiring to have to smile and be energetic and goofy all day in dress shoes! Thank the Lord for a long weekend!

Good, easy recipe!

I just thought I would share a great recipe that I've been making for a while now. My mom used to make it all the time when I was growing up. Now this is one of Clayton's favorite dishes. It's super quick and easy!

Skillet Enchiladas

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. chopped onions
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can El Paso Red Enchilada Sauce (Mild)
1/3 cup of milk
2. T chopped chilies (optional)

Brown ground beef and onion; drain. Stir mushroom soup, enchilada sauce, milk, and chilies together and add to meat. Cook on low for 15 minutes; remove from heat. Warm flour tortillas and sprinkle each with 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese (I sometimes mix in monterrey jack too!). Roll tightly and place seam side down on meat sauce. Cover with grated cheese and simmer until melted.

Serve with guacamole or sour cream!

so full... padded toilet seats

i ate SO much this weekend. and so rich. les did too.

our poor toilet...

not yet so much, but i'm anticipating the worst.

i mean seriously, one set of pre-molded porcelain can only take so much.

no not necessarily so much poop. did i mention the word poop yet? no. you thought it, though.

why?

why does everyone always think of poop when i mention porcelain? (notice the alliteration)

no i'm simply referring, to, in addition to that, yes, the large amounts of time said porcelain is sat upon. this is why i've always been a strong advocate of the padded toilet seat.

the contraption is designed flawlessly to yield just the right amount of give to cushion one's rear, thus preventing or at least reducing the discomfort resulting from said rear being sat upon for said large amounts of time.

it could be wonderful

however, there are two people in this household, so multiply everything i've said by two.

all this being said, we, unfortunately, do not have a padded toilet seat.

poop!

My New Friend Edouard

Well, folks, this West Texas girl is in the midst of her first ever tropical storm! (I'm sure it won't be the last if we stay in Houston very long.) I was kind of excited to get to be a part of severe weather, but there hasn't been much to it thus far. Just a lot of clouds, a little wind, and sprinkling rain. Maybe it will get worse later on today. I know other parts of Houston have gotten a lot of rain already.

Anyway, Clayton didn't have to go to work today on account of the storm, so we have had a lovely little tropical storm day so far. Unfortunately, he didn't get the call about not having to go to work until we were both up and dressed, so we didn't get to sleep late. But that's okay; I made pancakes and we watched an episode of Ed, our newest favorite TV show (even though it's an old show). Hopefully the electricity will stay on all day so we can watch movies or more Ed!

Yesterday, I drove to Galveston to have lunch with my parents, who are there for a business conference. This is their first tropical storm as well! They are staying at Moody Gardens, which is very prepared for any sort of tropical storm or hurricane. It was kind of weird for me to see footage on the Weather Channel of the exact same place on the Sea Wall that I saw yesterday!

I don't really have much else to write about. I'll update if we experience any other exciting tropical storm-related incidents!

Stay-at-home Wife

For the next two weeks, I will be a stay-at-home wife. Clayton started work today and quite honestly, I miss him like crazy even though it's only noon and he left at 7:30 this morning! I am not sure how I am going to fill my days until I start teacher in-service.

The apartment is clean. We have groceries in the fridge. I have a menu made for dinner. I bought my sister a birthday present. What should I do now?

As weird as it was to send Clayton off to work and not have to be someplace myself, it was really fun for me to get up with him this morning and pack his sack lunch for work. Today he got a triple-decker ham and turkey sandwich, potato chips, and a homemade apple dumpling. I even wrote his name on the Ziplock bag! :-D I like this business of being a wife, even though I'm still learning how to be a good one!

Totally random, but last night we laughed so hard and we talked about how we should post this in our blog. Anyone who knows Clayton knows that he likes to discuss bodily functions, especially poop. I have no idea how we got on the subject, but last night as we were trying to go to sleep, Clayton started asking how to say "diahrrea" in various languages. He decided that his German translation of diahrrea is "uber-poop". I love my husband! :-)