Here's the new house. It's on a cul-de-sac, has a creek behind it, and and empty lot next to it. All the houses around this area are brick because of the hurricanes. But, we are really excited and I'll try to post pictures of the inside after we move in.

Moving!

I am super excited to be moving to our new house soon! We close this Friday, and hopefully everything will go well. I am not, however, excited for actually physically moving. I have been packing for 2 weeks, but it's just amazing how much crap people can accumulate over several years! And, as I sort through stuff I've been finding lots of stuff that I don't really want or need (tea, eye masks, 15 boxes of dayquil and other assorted cold medicines, old envelopes, books I don't like, etc.) that I feel bad for throwing away, but I know that I"ll never use. So I have been doing my best to throw things away that I know I haven't used in the past 4 years and I definitely won't use any time soon. Still, it's hard to throw things away that are completely fine and functional. I do have a huge bag of stuff for Goodwill. But, there's always the little thought in the back of my head that says 'well, I might want this sometime and would hate to have to go buy it if I've already got it'.

I also did not realize how much baby stuff we have!!! And, the kids' clothes are just piling up faster than I can sort it. They grow out of stuff SO FAST!! We are keeping everything in case we decide to have one more baby. It will be an awesome day when we can get rid of everything for good!

It is a cleansing feeling to go through drawers, closets and bedrooms cleaning things out. We are renting a truck this weekend, so I hope i can get alot done this week. Movers are coming the following Friday, so I hope we can get organized and packed fast!!

Students and Personal Responsibility.

I've had it. I reached the end of my rope today. As I was giving out gradesheets to my students, many of them realized that they had many zeros for assignments they haven't turned in. So, I would either show them the assignment or tell them when they did it, and most of them said 'well, I wasn't here. I didn't know we did anything!'. And, on occasion they actually ask if they have to make it up since they were absent. Seriously. I wonder if they actually think the entire school shuts down and doesn't do anything on the days they are gone. So now they are scrambling to make up their zeros which is a huge pain in my ass while simultaneously blaming me for their terrible grades. This makes me mad. I have been known to ask the kids if they are serious and if they think the school revolves around them and their lame excuse absences.

My class is somewhat difficult, but generally if you are there every day, pay attention and at least try to do the work you will pass easily. If you try really hard you can easily make an 'A'. But, the majority of the students have no personal responsibility, especially when it comes to grades. They are rude, blame me, throw tantrums and then expect me to bend over backwards to help them make up their work. I gave a test today, did a review yesterday and gave them a review sheet. But, did they study? Wait, study? What's that? Do you have to do that after the 45 minute class is over? They're too busy doing who knows what to even remember to bring a pencil to school.

I attribute this to several things. First, the parents. Parents are way to quick to make excuses for their kids and they hardly ever punish them. Parents actually have to said to teachers at my school that they just don't know what to do anymore, yet the kid is out late every night, drives a decent car that is paid for, has a nice cell phone and computer. But, parents don't take that stuff away or ground them. So, what is the reason for a student to be worried about anything? Their parent will just come along and take care of it for them.

Secondly, many teachers just give grades for the kids if they are there or just do the assignment. There are students in my school who have missed 5 - 10 days of school, yet still have a 90%. What is the incentive if they can miss every other day of school and still make an A. I also have to wonder what in the world is going on in that classroom if kids who are gone so much have A's. But that's a whole separate story.

And, lastly, society doesn't do anything to help. We glamorize drug use, sex and people who commit crimes or don't get an education yet are still successful like some musician and athletes. The students have to grasp of reality when this is what they see every day. Most likely they are not going to become the next greatest guitar player or football player, or they are not going to start up some business and become a millionaire when they can barely multiply. And, I'm not kidding about the multiplying - it's unreal.

Well, this is my experience at my school, which is an alternative school, so I understand that we have a different population of students. But, it's still just as disheartening to see this lack of personal responsibility among young people.

Possible Winner . . .

Well, everything happens for a reason. The other house did not work out, but after looking at a few more we found one that we really like. It is laid out almost exactlly how we talked about building the other one. It has 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and is just slightly bigger than this house. The whole layout is more conducive to families and having parties which will work great for us. The bedrooms are laid out wonderfully for kids, and 2 of them have a nice jack and jill bathroom. The lot is bigger and there's a creek behind the house although that land is owned by someone else. There's an empty lot next door and it's on a cul-de-sac and there's lots of mature trees everywhere. It's perfect for us, and I hope it works out. The sellers have accepted our offer, and so we have to have an inspection and everything. And, the bank has agreed to give us an awesome interest rate as our primary residence as long as we move in within 30 days, which will be a little crazy, but doable.

We do still have to sell our house which is the most worriesome part of this whole deal, but we've added some nice upgrades and can really competitively price it. I'm hoping it won't take a super long time, and this is the best time to sell since it's the spring. And, we have a great realtor. I think it will show very nice and it will be probably be a bit easier and nicer since we'll be moved out. So, say a few prayers for us that we can sell it quickly!

I am hesitant to put any pictures or anything up, so I'm going to wait until we actually own the house. We're going to have to do a little painting and someday I'd like to change the stain on the kitchen cabinets, but that's all cosmetic and easy to do when the time is right.

So, hopefully everything will work out. My friend Molly's friend lives right next door and seems really nice, and Molly will only be a couple minutes away. And a few other friends live closer which will be nice! I'll keep you posted!