Second Class Down

I am going to college. Bethel University is a very old school dating back to the 1800's. They diversified a few years ago and now they have satellite schools all over Tennessee. The one I am attending meets at the Holiday Inn Express in Murfreesboro. We meet one night a week for 4 hours. Each class takes five weeks. When the time is done, you have three credit hours. Simple.

I just finished my second class, Issues in Management. We had a character for a teacher. Dr. Kraus is the father of Jennifer Kraus, who is the anchor on the weekend for WTVF in Nashville. He is well traveled, very educated, funny and a great teacher.

We didn't open the book once and that wasn't a bad thing. He teaches an interactive class with everyone taking the issue he is communicating and adds comments from their own experiences. We learn so much more from life lessons than any book could offer.

As a cohort, we bonded during this class. Dr. Kraus took us all out to dinner, his treat, so that we could share our class in a very casual atmosphere. Personally, I think all of our future teachers should follow his lead.

Six hours down, thirty-six more to go. One week at a time, one class at a time. If you need to finish a degree, call me. I'll get you connected with Bethel.

What a Weekend!

Saturday was a day of watching and waiting. We spent the majority of the day with the television on watching first channel two, then channel four and finally channel five. There isn't anything more tiring than waiting, whether it is in a weather situation or in a hospital room.

We were blessed that the really bad weather didn't come anywhere near us. We had a storm or two but nothing to be worried over. Isn't that just like us to worry over something that probably won't even happen?

The biggest blessing of the weekend is that we got to spend some quality time with each of our daughters and their families. Rebekah, Josh and Maggie came to ride the storms out on Saturday. Their house is on top of a hill in Woodbury and when the weather is threatening, they come here. If the need arose, we were will headed to Mom and Dad's basement. Thankfully, that didn't happen. Maggie and I took a "nap" while watching television in our bedroom while the rest of the group literally took naps in the living room. We topped it off with dinner at the benefit at the community center.

Sunday afternoon, Leah, Nick, Allie and Elijah came for lunch and we spent the afternoon playing in the yard. Allie learned how to hit a baseball while Leah and Nick played catch. Elijah and I did some sliding (I just barely fit) and later Allie, Elijah and I did some trampoline jumping. Today I am feeling the effects!

Lazy afternoons spent with family members are precious gifts. I should be so blessed to get to unwrap them more often.

Sunday Lesson

Here's a video I thought was worth sharing!

Spring Cleaning

I have made it no secret that I was born the creative one in my family and my sister, Martye, was born with the "cleaning" gene.  Martye's house is always spotless, although she would argue that it isn't.  Her standard is higher than mine, apparently.  She can see dirt and grime when I see nothing.  It is a good thing that she is not judgmental, because if she was, she wouldn't come to my house.  She couldn't eat off of my floors, although, you can eat off of hers.  My house tends to be cluttered more than dirty.  Creative minds create clutter you know.

Yesterday was a strange day in the Bryan household.  Jerry is laid up with the reoccurring "goat" injury for a few days.  Since we had nowhere to be or nothing that had to be done, I decided I was going to do some cleaning in our bedroom.  The original goal was to change the sheets, vacuum the floors, dust and maybe, just maybe clean out my closet. 

It all started when I took the sheets off the bed.  I looked at the dust ruffle and noticed it was dirty.  Off it came, along with the blankets and the bedspread.  My laundry room floor looked like my linen closet had thrown up in it.   I decided that since the linens were all getting cleaned, that I would take the mattress and box springs off and vacuum under the bed.  While I had the bed out to vacuum under it, I noticed the windows were dirty and that led to taking the curtains down and washing them.  While all the laundry was being done, I took all the drawers out of my dresser, cleaned them out and rearranged them.  I moved the dresser and vacuumed the floor where it had been sitting.  I moved the night stand, etc. until every surface in the room had either been washed, vacuumed or dusted.

Jerry asked me if I was taking prednisone!  He thought I must be taking something because of the rate of speed that I was getting things done!

Last night, I laid my head down on a clean pillowcase in a clean bedroom.  Although everything was clean and fresh (except my closet), the best rewards that came out of my cleaning frenzy were all the things I found in the process.  I found Mother's day cards from my girls that were so sweet, I found pictures that had been hastily tucked away years ago that brought back wonderful memories and I found the mates to some of my socks that had been missing for a while.

Maybe Martye didn't get all the cleaning genes after all.  I still believe that she is creative, she just doesn't want to admit it!