I Believe in Miracles

Yesterday in class I asked my students if they really believed that when they prayed they prayed to a God who not only could answer their prayers but to a God who WOULD answer their prayers. I've heard stories from people about miracles they've experienced, and in the back of my mind, I've often thought, "That won't ever happen to me." Abby is a miracle, sure. Two pounds, fifteen ounces and perfect, that's a miracle no doubt, but I've secretly longed for one of those, undeniable miracles. Jason and I got 'purt close (to coin one of my Nannie's phrases) to one on Wednesday.

Like I said, Abby was a miracle, but she was an expensive miracle. Her medical bills were somewhere close to $50,000 and mine were about that as well. Thank God for insurance because we ended up owing only (and I say that with a smile) $9000 when all was said and done.

If your family is anything like ours, $9000 might as well have been the amount of the "stimulus" bill because we couldn't pay it. We used the stimulus check last year to pay off one of her bills, and then my wonderful friend Debra told me about a scholarship the hospital offers.

We jumped on the scholarship. By that point, though, all our medical bills were in collections. We stopped paying them because the hospital said not to pay anything until we knew the outcome. Mid-November we heard that the scholarship had forgiven half of the medical bills. Praise the Lord, a miracle.

When I called the collections agency in December, they said that we needed to wait until January to call back because that was when our bills would go back to them.

Well, calling them went to the bottom of the list because Jason started a new job; I started a new semester. Meanwhile, we turned off our home phone.

Wednesday, Jason told me to call because, according to him, "They're going to track us down and sue us if we don't start paying." So dramatic.

I had to call the hospital to find out the status.

So I called, and the conversation went like this after the lady pulled Abby's bill:

Bill lady: "Abby's bill shows a zero balance."

Me: "What?"

Lady: "It shows a zero balance. Do you have any other accounts?"

"Yes, I was in for three weeks during that time."

"Oh, it's probably that account."

She looks up the account.

Bill lady: "That account shows a zero balance too"

Me - through tears: "Well praise God."

"That's right."

It was a miracle, plain and simple. I'm sure there's an explanation, scholarship covered it, something like that, but for me and Jason and Abby, it's a miracle.

So I ask, do you believe in miracles? I hope so.

We're into S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G

We have entered into a new stage of life with the little princess. I've heard other parents say that their children hear every word they say, and I know that is true. For some reason, I never thought I would be one of those parents who goes around spelling everything to everybody. As a matter of fact, I've often found it very irritating when parents spell.

I know some of you are saying that this doesn't sound right coming from an English teacher. Shouldn't I love to spell? Although I do have a secret love affair with language, I'm not always a fan of spelling because sometimes I'm not very good at it. After all, I never won a spelling bee; heck, I never even placed in a spelling bee.

Now, however, Jason and I have entered the world of letters. There are two words that we must never utter aloud in our house. They are S-T-U-P-I-D and H-A-I-R-B-O-W.

I'll tell you why these two words make up the list so far. Abby learned S----- from my mom. I've mentioned before that Abby loves "But Not The Hippopotamus". Unfortunately, my mom isn't a huge fan, and one day while reading Abby her favorite book, my mom said, "That's stupid." To which Abby replied, "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid." I think she likes the way it sounds, and I must admit, sometimes it is altogether appropriate. If we say the word now, she says, "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid."

The other word, though seemingly innocuous, causes big problems. Abby's hair is at that "awkward" stage, falling into her eyes and not staying behind her ears. We use a hairbow to keep the offending locks in place. Abby usually doesn't notice her hairbow, but when it is mentioned, her little hand reaches up and pulls it from her hair, causing all her bangs to come into her face. She also likes hairbows because they make her pretty. What a little girl!

So for now we spell in front of Abby. We'll see how many words are added to the list in the coming months?

Somebody remind me when children start learning to spell? How much longer do we have?

Saving, Saving, Saving

I've had some folks ask me about my couponing prowess. I've decided to put a few of my tricks here for your enjoyment/help. First let me tell you where this skill originated.

When I was a little girl, my mom had what we called the "refunding room". She subscribed to a magazine called Refunding Makes Cents, and she clipped coupons anywhere she could find them. My dad even fixed her a long wooden box to keep all her coupons in. She soaked the labels off of orange juice bottles (back when they were made of glass) so that she could mail them in for the refunding checks.

I never thought much about my mom's obsession, but now that I'm older and poorer, I realize that she is probably the smartest, thriftiest woman I know.

Over the years, I've watched and learned and now I'm pretty adept at saving money on my own. I mentioned in a previous post that I save on average 30-50% on my grocery bills by shopping on sale and with coupons. Here are some tips for saving at the grocery store.

1. ALWAYS buy things on sale. If it's not on sale, don't get it. I rarely purchase anything that isn't marked down.

2. Subscribe to the Sunday paper. This is where you get the really good coupons. It costs us $6.96 a month to have the paper delivered to our house, and on average I save $10-$20 per week couponing. The paper more than pays for itself.

3. Every Sunday I sit down with the sale paper from my grocery store of choice after I have clipped coupons from the inserts, and I look at what is on sale and what I have coupons for. When possible I combine sales and coupons for maximum savings. Let me give you an example. **guys tune out here** Ingles often has their Kotex pantyliners on sale buy one get one free. I almost always have a coupon for $.75 off. I can buy them for $.69 and take off $.75. They are free, and I get $.06 off something else. Make sense?

4. Learn to read the sales papers. Most sales ads tell you how much off the product is. If is is only $.08 off, you aren't getting a good deal. Be aware.

5. Most grocery stores double coupons up to $.50 or $.60. These coupons are the best deals. Use them first!

6. Clip even the coupons you think you might not use. You never know what you'll need.

7. Buy ahead. Don't wait until you are completely out to run to the grocery store to buys something. Keep it in stock. If you guy out of need, you will always spend more. Keep the staples you always use in your cabinet.

8. Organize your coupons. I'm not much on organization. If you've been to my house, you know what I mean, but coupons expire, so you need to have them in order of when they expire. I put mine in envelopes marked for each month and organize them chronologically. That way I know exactly what is about to expire.

9. Keep it fun!! For me couponing is a game. I like to get the best deals, and with a watchful eye, I can many times get things for practically free. It's invigorating.

Please post any tricks you use to save money. I'm always looking for good ideas!

I never do these things, promise!

This is the silly 25 random things about you post from Facebook. I thought you might find it amusing here.

1. I swore to myself that I would not write this note, but here I am. That shows how good I am at commitment.

2. I worked as a family court paralegal all through college and while I finished my Masters's degree. It was grueling work, but interestingly enough I enjoyed it.

3. Even though I love, love, love my job, students can sometimes annoy me.

4. I used to pay my sister to clean my room. I'm that bad at organization.

5. Like all good English people, I would love to write a novel. I'm sure I've got a story in here somewhere.

6. Couponing is a passion of mine. On a good week I save about 40% on my grocery bill. I learned this skill from my mom.

7. The hardest thing I've ever done was walk out of the NICU and leave Abby there. I still tear up when I think about it.

8. I'm an introvert. Sometimes I just want to be left alone, completely alone.

9. I often start books and never finish them.

10. Napping is my favorite pastime.

11. I was in Bible drills at my church until I was in high school. To put that I am a nerd would be redundant.

12. My favorite word is spumescent. It means frothy and foamlike.

13. I would like to have visited every continent by the time that I am 30. I've only got Africa, Australia and Antarctica left to go.

14. Bravo is my favorite network on cable.

15. I use Star Wars in my lectures to gain brownie points with Jason. I really don't know alot about Star Wars, but my students don't know that.

16. I took dance when I was little and I have the pictures to prove it. I wasn't very good.

17. I'm often glad that I am the oldest because my baby sister is much smarter than I am.

18. I can't stand it when the slides at church contain grammatical errors. It distracts my worship. Is that bad?

19. I find it fascinating to look for God in the literature that I study. He's always there.

20. I've always wanted to have my tongue pierced, but I think it would hurt too much to actually have it done.

21. I like all things chocolate.

22. Crossword puzzles are my guilty pleasure.

23. I think I could be classified as a Facebook stalker.

24. Going to Clemson and getting my Master's degree was a spiritual challenge for me.

25. We use cloth diapers with Abby and surprisingly we love it.

Just a Vapor

Sometimes the reality of the brevity of life comes crashing down on us.

I was late leaving my house this morning. I typically try to get out the door between 6:50 and 6:55; usually it is closer to 7 when I actually pull out of my driveway. This morning I got Abby up, changed her clothes and her diaper, gave her some milk and then knocked impatiently on the bathroom door for Jason to hurry up and get out of the shower so that I could leave.

I suppose I could have left Abby in our bedroom to play for the few minutes it would have taken Jason to finish, but I'm quite certain our house would not be standing if I had done that. Abby has the unique talent of finding anything and everything that is dangerous in our house.

When I finally pulled out of the driveway at 7:03, I was in a snit. I was late, frustrated and cold.

To top it off, I got behind a school bus. This was not the kind of school bus that only picks up 2 kids, no, this was the school bus that stops at EVERY SINGLE DIVEWAY to pick up kids who think that they have all the time in the world to get on the bus, choose the best seat and knit a blanket. I exaggerate, but when you're late, it certainly feels that way.

As I was listening to the radio behind the offensive bus, I heard there was a wreck on Highway 25 at Highway 414. This is my turn. When I was in college, there was no stop light at this particular intersection. Drivers had to simply punch it across the road and hope for the best. After a terrible wreck there where 2 students were killed, a light was installed. This morning the light didn't save an NGU student.

Jason called and called while I was in class to make sure that I wasn't in the wreck. When I was able to finally call him back I assured him I was safe.

I'm reminded that sometimes it's a blessing to be late. If I had left at 6:45, I probably would have been there at that intersection at the time of the accident.

Our God is a God of provision. He directs all our steps, even if they are late, even when they end in tragedy. "His ways are not our ways, his thought not our thoughts." Praise be to God that he is the one in control and not me.

Please pray for the Huff family. I didn't teach this student, but I know her family covets our prayers.

Apathy vs. Attitude

VS.



In my time as a teacher, I have learned many things. One such lesson was reinforced this morning in my 8:00 class. I've learned I would rather have apathetic students than have students with attitude.

You see, an apathetic student usually doesn't disrupt class. He typically sits in the back of the room with this head on his arms and quietly snores his way through lectures. Although these habits may be irritating to me as a teacher, they are usually not disruptive to the students who sit close to the dozing student.

The student with attitude, however, may sit anywhere in the room - back, middle, front. This student make take many different forms, all of which are equally annoying. He may chat with the students around, making rude commentary on the lecture, or she may ask questions that are not relevant in a tone that is completely sarcastic. Unlike apathy, attitude is contagious. It tends to infect all the students in a 6 inch radius from the offending student.

One of my colleagues pointed out to me this morning that attitude ruins the teacher's day. It is a problem that I carry with me from class to class. If I have a student show attitude in my 8:00 class, it makes me very edgy in my 9:00 class. I think about the situation all day.

Apathetic students, however, may annoy me, but I don't think about them in every class.

So I guess my point is, if you are a student with attitude, you may want to check it at the door. Just a thought.

1 Bag 5 Dinners

Doesn't she look happy? I'm about to tell you why!

My friend Katie just introduced me to my new BFF. I've always been a fan of Kraft recipes. As a matter of fact, I get the Kraft Food magazine every quarter and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. The recipes are super easy and extremely tasty. That's my kind of meal.

Well, apparently, they have a new thing called 1 bag 5 dinners. It's your recipe plan for the entire week! They provide a shopping list (not too many items on it) and then the recipes for that week. You can choose chicken and beef recipes, chicken and pork recipes, chicken and seafood recipes. You get the idea. Of course, dinner on Friday is always a pizza, but I can handle that.

So for all of my friends out there who are penny pinchers like I am, here's the link. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Oh, Kraft almost always has coupons for its products, a double treat!

1 Bag 5 Dinners