Saturday, March 15, 2008

I PASSED!!!!!!

I am reminded of the scene in Legally Blonde when El Woods was walking up to the posted list of those who were chosen for the prestigious legal internship. Upon seeing her name on that very small list of names she shouted,


"ME!"


That is the way I felt yesterday after finding out I passed the teachers exam. I wish I could say I knew I would pass it or it was easy and stuff. The truth is I was shocked. I had no business passing that exam. I wasn't positive I had one answer right until I reached a question somewhere in the 80's. Prior to the exam I had asked/told Heavenly Father that if this was the way I was supposed to go in life then please help me pass this test. I know without a doubt, without His help I would have never passed this test. I can now start looking for a teaching job and go to all of the job fairs. I broke down in tears when I saw that I has passed I think for a couple of reasons. Those who know me know I have struggled with the decision of what I should do professionally for that last 11 years. It was a decision that haunted me daily and I never could seem to get a confirmation from above on the matter. It has been a constant source of frustration for me. So getting such a straight up confirmation of my direction and as I see it purpose for my career was special to me. The other reason was because it was semi-miraculous. I am not humble when it comes to taking tests. I am not the smartest person in the world and and I am not the dumbest. But I am good at taking tests and I like taking them. I like analyzing them and seeing if I can break them down. I did do some deduction while taking the teaching test but honestly felt I had no chance of passing it because the material I studied did not help with a single question. I just wanted to let everyone know the good news.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Happy 5th Anniversary!!!

After waiting for many, many months for my divorce from a completely miserable, nightmarish marriage to come to an end I decided to attend the local institute in McKinney. My sister Sarah had been going to it and I had asked her on a few occasions about the local "talent" at the female position. I remember her telling me about this one girl that was cute and sweet. Sarah never officially introduced me to her so I never knew which girl she was referring to when I attended institute. There were a few cute girls at institute, three for sure that had some interest in me but known of those three I had any interest in. One evening I decided to attend a young singles activity in Frisco at a sand volleyball court. I attended with a couple of friends who were girls. During that evening I got to throw the football for a few minutes with a delightful young woman named Tina. I had seen her around and I knew she was dating someone. I found her personality appealing and she was cute. Over the next several months I watched her and talked with her when I could. I went with my friends and her and her boyfriend to the Renaissance Fair where I watched her some more (I have pictures with my spy equipment to prove it! J/K). I watched her at the dances. Over that period of time I had spoken with my friends about her on several occasions. They were good friends with Tina so they knew a little about her. They and others had given me the impression that Tina and her boyfriend were for sure going to get married, it was just a matter of time. I don't remember the exact moment I knew Tina and I would be a perfect couple, but it was not very long after I first met her. After a few months passed since I first met her and knowing she and I would be absolutely perfect for each other, I decided I better let her know I was out there and interested in her when/if she became available. So one day after an activity I told her exactly that. I wanted to plant a seed. I wanted to let her know there was a better option out there. I think it was only a few weeks after I told her I was interested in her that she and her boyfriend broke up. The underlying story of all of this stuff going on was my two friends who were girls, who were part of the 3 girls that liked me in the beginning wanted me for themselves. So they were feeding me bad information. When Tina and her boyfriend broke up they kept it from me because they knew I liked her. They pressured Tina not to date me because they liked me. I on several occasions made it clear to my two friends that we were only that and nothing ever more, but they still schemed and planned all the while. My first "date" with Tina was a trip to the local golf driving range. It was on the eve of my sister Angela's wedding reception. We had a real good time hitting golf balls, neither of us was very good at it though, but we had nice, natural conversation and I think an instant comfort level. We had never been alone before, so we never really had the freedom to speak freely together. At each table for Ang's reception there was a vase that had a beta fish in it. I remembered from our first date her telling me she liked animals and stuff. So I grabbed one of them and took it out to her house the next day. After that I asked her on a real official date and I think we went ice skating at the Frisco mall where we both fell on our butt's once or twice. A day or so after that I received a voice message from Tina saying she couldn't date me because her friend (and my friend) liked me and didn't want her to date me. Well we got through all that soap opera bs and the rest is history. I just thought I would tell the story for those of you who have never heard it before. I knew Tina and I were perfect for each other shortly after we met. I then spent the next 4 months trying to convince Tina of that fact. The truth is Heavenly Father answered my prayers and blessed me with the sweet after going through so very very much of the bitter in my previous marriage. She is a blessing and we will be together for ever. After knowing each other for 6 years and being married for 5 of those we have still never raised our voices to each other. We are truly happy and blessed to be together. I love her very much.

In other news I am still working at Market Street and really loving every minute of it. I like this job more than any job I have ever had. I am happier with this company than any company I can ever imagine. I will get the results of my school teacher test I think in one week. I don't think I am going to pass the test, but who knows. I do know I enjoy this job and have a lot of opportunities with this company.

Tina is getting better from her sickness. We are going out tomorrow to celebrate our anniversary since I work this evening. Ayden and Asher are doing well. I think maybe for the first time I can remember, it snowed twice in Texas in one Winter where I live. Asher and I played out in the snow last night for about 30 minutes. We were having a snow ball fight, then we made a little snow man. There was probably 6 inches of snow in our backyard which is a lot for Texas. I have included all those pictures either on this blog or on the photo album. It was a lot of fun and really cool to see.

For those of you who took the poll question on the blog from the last post that answered Manchego, you were correct. Manchego is a Spanish cheese made from Ewe's milk.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Greetings



Man I enjoy watching SpongeBob with Asher. I just heard a vocal exchange between SpongeBob and Plankton. SpongeBob said, "You can't have that crabby patty Plankton, its for the customer." To which Plankton replied, "Customer? Why I'll boil the customer in hot oil..." Plankton is truly funny on that show. The Scott family for the past few days have all been added to the disabled list (for my women readers this is a sports term). Tina is out with a cold/flu. She has had a sore throat, body ache, cough, etc... Asher has had a cough for the past couple of days. I woke up with a headache and Ayden is teething. Other than that we are doing great.

Ayden's front teeth are coming in now. You can just see her right front tooth about to poke through the gum. We think it has been contributing to her evening grumpiness. She continues to struggle trying to pull herself up. She usually ends up busting her face on something. She is almost totally of the boob now. I think she only boob feeds once or maybe twice a day now. It is fun to watch her crawl all over the place. Thank heaven for little girls.

Asher continues to do well in school. His highest grade right now is in science which is also his favorite subject. He went to a kids b-day party the other night at a game center and had lots of fun. He has met some of the other neighbor kids and has started to play basketball with them next door. Baseball is coming up in April and he is getting excited for that.

Tina is sick as I mentioned above. But other than that she is doing well.

Meanwhile, the store has opened. Last you heard from me I had 3 job possibilities. It turns out I chose the one I had from the very beginning. I was offered the library job at CCCCD. I was invited to interview for a library job with the City of Little Elm, o I could substitute teach. After weighing all of my present options I decided to keep the full time Market Street job and the benefits that come with it. The store opened this past Friday to a abundant crowd. I got to the store at 8am. After placing some grated Grana Pandana on a display section I was returning to my cheese section when I looked up and saw a person that looked familiar. This was a person I have seen on TV hundreds of times. This person was the great, 3 time Super Bowl champion and Hall of Famer, Troy Aikman. He was talking to someone but as I walked by him I said, "Holy smokes its Troy Aikman" and I patted him on the back as I walked by. Needless to say we are now best buddies. I worked a 10 hour day that day, hard work but lots of fun. The store was packed to the max. I got to meet one of the co-owners of the company. He seems like a very good person and I can tell that the feel of family that permeates throughout the company comes from him. I am learning my cheeses these days, so if any of you have any questions about cheese then holler at me. We have 300 different cheeses in the store. I have tried many of them and have learned a lot about them so far. I am currently reading a book about cheese to better familiarize myself with the many, many cheeses of the world. It is really quite interesting. I won't get the results of my teaching social studies test until the 14th of March. I don't expect it will be a good result. I studies a good amount but evidently didn't study the right stuff because I guessed on almost every answer choice. So if HF wants me to teach he would have to have blessed me with a lot of help. I will let you know when I know. Please, take the poll to the right.

"F is for fire that burns down the whole town, U is for uranium, bomb, N is for no survivors."

- Plankton