New Orleans Girl's Weekend

I am a little late at updating, but while Todd is watching the continuous CNN coverage of the death of the King of Pop (so sad), I thought I would blog before I go out on my 45 min. walk of sweat.
This weekend, I went on a very fun road trip to New Orleans with my two dearest friends in all of the world. We visited 4 lovely plantation houses (Nottoway and Homaus House were my favorite), toured the dirty smelly French Quarter (sorry NOLA lovers), ate at a delightful, yet kind of disappointing swanky restaurant, went on the hottest and most crowded steamboat dinner cruise ever, and enjoyed out tiny and shady hotel pool. I will probably never go to NOLA again in the summer time, it is WAY to HOT to enjoy yourself, but I have to say that I had a very relaxing time with my friends, and it was a great way to laugh ourselves silly and reconnect. Everyone was also very friendly in New Orleans, which made for a pleasant experience.

Since then, I have basically laid around the house and relaxed. I went to my mom and dad's on Tuesday to hang out with my niece. Auntie Hill. joined us and we had a lovely afternoon in the pool. I think it def. helped out tan out. I have been dropping Todd off and picking him up from work (his truck is in the shop), cooking, and cleaning. He is going to be very sad when I go back to work, lol. I also went into work for a few hours this morning. We are testing next week, so I have to get everything together. I don't mind work nearly as much when I only have to work a 1/2 day. Our staff is a little stressed out right now. They were in the middle of doing schedules when they were told that we are losing two core teaching positions...which of course puts more work on everyone else. So, keep your fingers crossed that I really won't have to teach a class next year. I may have to suck it up and be assigned to help out a little. Blah.
I have also decided that I am going to start working on my principal certification through SFA. I think it is a good idea to go ahead and get it, although I don't think I would pursue an actual job as a principal for a while. I would like to go ahead and do it now before we have a baby. It is a little stressful, especially to think about the financial aspect of it, but I think if I stay in education for life, it is probably something I will want to do at some point in my career. Plus, the program seems to be pretty flexible and I should be able to take some classes online as well as some classes in Jasper (hopefully).
I am still working on my diet and fitness plan. I have lost another pound, bringing my total to 9 so far...and I am trying to keep working my hardest. It is getting easier now that I am in the habit of exercising and watching what I eat, but the weight still comes off slowly. I am proud of myself for working out both days that we were at the hotel in NOLA. I think it helped me not gain any weight while we were away eating fattening restaurant food.
I have been a little sad the past few days...it seems like there is so much sadness and grief in the world. Maybe I have been watching too many sad movies and too much t.v., but this week alone, there has been the dissolution of Jon and Kate, the death of Ed McMahon, Farah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson, sad topics on Oprah, as well as sad news about one of our dear family members. It is a natural part of life, but sometimes you just get bogged down. But, what does not kill us will make us stronger and tomorrow is another day. I know it is important to appreciate every day we are given and spend our time making the most of it with the people that we love.