So Cute!!!!

Isn't this the most precious little boy you have ever seen???

Katy and Kristian -your son is adorable!!! I just had to post his pick for my readers to see too!

Visitors

Locke and I welcomed my mom and brother for a visit last Wednesday through Saturday. Locke was out of town or working most of the time, but Mom, Michael and I ate at The Pfunky Griddle, where you make your own pancakes, shopped at McKay, a HUGE used book store, saw Shutter Island, hung out at the Big Bang, a dueling piano bar, and went bowling. Then Locke's parents came in town Friday afternoon and we had dinner with them at Cinco de Mayo before going to my opening performance of How I Learned to Drive. The show went really well and they all seemed to enjoy it. Saturday we met with the realtor (more to come on that later) and then went to lunch at a nearby 'meat & three', Southern Bred. Then I had to take my mom and brother to the airport :( I was sad to see them go. Saturday night Locke went to dinner at his Aunt Barbara's with his parents and cousins and I performed and then went out for Mexican and margaritas after the show. I love my cast! Today, Sunday, we went to church with Locke's parents and then had lunch at Panera Bread Co. before his parents went back to GA and I performed in the Sunday matinee. Now Spring Break has come to an end and it is time to return to work. (But only 2 weeks until Good Friday and Easter!)

A special thanks to everyone who has come to see the show so far: Sally, Shannon, Mom, Michael, Laura, Bobby, Ronnie, Barbara, Charity and friends, PJ, Heather, Carlee, Holland, Kevin, and of course, Locke! Your support is so encouraging! :)

Shaping Up!

As I mentioned in my last post, I was thinking about joining a gym. Well I did it! For $14.95/month and a $50 joining fee, I am now a proud member of Urban Active Fitness! Two of my friends use the same gym and it is near work so I plan to work out with them after work during the week. It's good to have friends to work out with and hold me accountable. I've been 3 days in a row and have plan to go everyday this week before rehearsal. (It is Spring Break this week, so I won't be going after work until next week.) My goal is to get more in shape and be healthier. I get winded so easily right now, but hopefully that won't be the case for long. I'll let you know how it goes and if I stick with it. Ask me sometime how it is going to hold me accountable :) Thanks!

Updates

-Rehearsals for How I Learned to Drive are going well. I love it! It's exciting to look forward to going to rehearsal each day! :)

-Locke and I talked with the realtor and he suggested that we have a home staging/remodeling lady come give us her suggestions. So, Kelli with Prix de Solde came over last week and took pictures of our house. She is creating a proposal of ALL the things we could redo, remodel, and stage before selling the house. The biggest thing we have to do is de-clutter! We will be getting one of the mobile attics or PODS to pack up boxes into. So now we are just waiting on Kelli's proposal and then we will go over it with our realtor and decide which things are most important to do and what we can afford.

-School days are 30 minutes longer now to make up for the 2 snow days (over our limit of 5) we had this winter. It makes for a very long day, but my kids did pretty well despite it today.

-My mom and brother and Locke's parents are coming to visit next week!!! Yay! They're all coming to see the play :)

-My mom and I are going with Patti (mom's friend) to VEGAS in April and we are going to the ACM awards!!!! I am so excited!!!

-I am thinking about joining a gym.

-Last Friday night was the Faculty v. 4th grade basketball game. Faculty won...of course :) It was a fun time had by all! (Even one of my students played in the game :) )

Well that's all for now. I'll try to be better about posting more frequently.

Meeting with the realtor

So there's not a lot of new stuff in our lives to blog about, but we will be meeting with a realtor in the next week or so to learn more about the process of selling our house and buying a new one. We are looking at moving to the Vandy area, Greenhills, or Crieve Hall neighborhood, but we're open to other locations. There's a lot that needs to be done to our current house to get it in ready to sell condition and I am looking forward to hearing what the realtor suggests we do first (i.e. painting, new roof, landscaping, new carpet, etc).

I am so excited about this new adventure! I will post more after we meet with the realtor.

Sick :(

You know you've been sick too long when...

...your husband tells you your coughing is disrupting his work and asks you to please stop (he was kidding, but still :) )

...you could have got rich if only you had stock in Kleenex

...you can't find the toothpaste because your bathroom sink is clutter with at least 6 kinds of over the counter medicines

...you get excited at just breathing

...you find an old tissue in your jeans you've worn too many times in a row because you haven't done laundry (gross!)

...you're using an old tissue box as a trash can for used tissues so you can have a portable trashcan to carry with you everywhere you go

...your students tell you "Mrs. McKinney, you sick"

I've been under the weather for over a week, but got some antibiotics and nose spray today. It's a 3 day Z-pack... 3 horse size pills...must be some strong stuff. Hopefully I won't have to sleep with a box of tissues tucked under my arm very soon.

In the still of the night...

It's 4 am and I've been awake for an hour and a half. Not sure why I can't sleep. Maybe because my head was pounding so hard that it woke me at 2:30 am or because since I've been sick, I've taken a lot of naps...or maybe there's another reason. I'd like to think that there is something I can learn in the still of the night. If I can get past my frustration with not being able to sleep, I might actually notice and appreciate the calm. It is so quiet. And tonight out my window, it is beautiful...a snow covered street glimmering in the light of a street lamp. One of my dear friends, Katy Rose, said in a 3 am blog, "There is something so special, so sacred, about the middle of the night. I somehow almost feel privileged to be one of the few experiencing it right now". Katy goes on in her blog to describe how she feels compelled to seek God in this hour. I pray that I may have the serenity and faith of Katy.

Something I feel like God is really challenging me with lately is confronting my leaning towards materialism. Locke and I are so blessed to not worry about how we will pay our bills or buy groceries. We are able to spend money on entertainment, dining out, and even travel. It is hard not to want more when you've been given so much. I guess the real issue is selfishness. I pray that the Lord would continue to reveal my selfishness to me and show me ways in which to make Him and the needs of His people my priority.

"And the King will say to those on his right, 'Come you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance; the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me ... I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" Matthew 25:34-36, 40