A Taste of the Single Life

Steve left for his annual Idaho trip a week ago Friday. He drove to Twin Falls where he met up with his best friend from high school, Spencer Williams. Spencer is a chiropractor and lives in Twin Falls now with his wife, Valorie.  Their sons were all in town from Tennessee to perform in concert that evening. Their sons have a singing group called "The Standards."  Steve stayed in Twin Falls after the performance and enjoyed his time with his friends.  Last Saturday morning Steve headed for Arco and Moore to enjoy a number of days on the river fishing.  He planned to spend some of his time in Rexburg with his sister, Dorothy, and her family.  He also wanted to visit his brother, Tommy, in Idaho Falls who happened to be in the hospital. His fishing plans were all based on good weather; so an early snow storm would have caused an adjustment in his itinerary.

This is where Steve likes to fish.  It's called
Big Lost River.  He fly fishes there. 

So the bottom line is this:
Steve has been gone, and I have time by myself.
I didn't have to look very far to figure out what I
should do with my time.  I am totally consumed
with my responsibilities at school such as
the student store.  It's a huge job, and it takes
many extra hours to get everything done.  We will
be selling T-shirts and hoodies starting next week.
This will be yet another item to occupy
my time.  Oh well, maybe I'll get a free
hoodie out of it.

Here's an inside picture of part of the student store.  I have
student store workers who are receiving elective
credit for working in the store.  We sell all kinds of drinks,
snacks and pizza.  It doesn't look like much,
but it is very time consuming and exhausting.  I feel
like I work at 7-11 after spending hours
there every school day.  Students order what they
want at a window that you can't see in this picture.

I am also keeping busy with my new computer
lab.  A few days before school started a crew of
men were in my school replacing every single
computer.  In addition, all teachers got new
multimedia projectors with a sound system
installed in the ceiling as well.  It has been a huge
 job putting my room together and getting used
 to the new equipment.

With the new computers came new
software.  I am in the process of
learning Office 2010.  I am
finding it to be very similar to 2007.
However, I received some grant money
last spring.  Now I am waiting
for new textbooks and a few other items
 that will keep me even more busy as I
implement the new software
and computers into my classroom.
Ever heard of an Elmo?  I'm getting one!!

So if I'm not doing school,
work, what am I doing??
Well, being one of the
Gospel Doctrine teachers
in Sunday School, I find
myself spending many hours
reading the scriptures and
studying.  There's no free
time on the weekends,
that's for sure.

So if I'm not going to school or studying the scriptures,
what else could I be doing?  Well, how about a weekly Thursday
commitment at the temple.  That's right, never a dull moment
on a Thursday,  I actually really enjoy my temple service even
though sometimes my spirits are down when I think of
how tired I am and how I don't want  to make the drive alone. 
The temple never disappoints me.  I also go one Saturday a month
 in the capacity of a bridal attendant.  Really, sometimes
I wonder if maybe I am trying to do too much, but that thought
quickly leaves my head once I see "the bride."

With Steve gone and so many
work and church responsibilities
could there really be time to relax?
The answer is "yes."  When I got home
from school last Friday afternoon, I
put on my nightgown and didn't leave the
house until it was time to go to church
on Sunday.  It felt so good to lounge
around with no where to go and no one who
needed me to do anything for them.  After
school  I grabbed a bite to eat and now
 I'm home again on a Friday; and guess what,
I'm in my nightgown watching mindless
 TV shows and enjoying every minute.