The Great Search

I am in search of a new duvet cover for my bed. I am ready for a change. Right now... I have a light blue one, similar to this... (my sheets are a gold color, tho)

I really want a "patterned" one this time. I went to Pottery Barn's site because I love their stuff! It is my "style". I wasn't sure that I could afford a duvet cover from Pottery Barn, but I figured that I would look anyway! **Smile**

I was surprised to find that they don't even have "comforters". They only have "duvet covers" or "coverlets".

I was also surprised to find one that I liked a lot and was also ON SALE!!!

Isn't it pretty??? The website listed it for $99, which included the duvet cover and two shams!! A GREAT BARGAIN!! ..... Right??

Well.... when I went to order it, the page came up with a message that said.... "This product will not be available for deliver until after August 18th." -- WHAT???? I didn't understand this, so I called Pottery Barn and spoke to a representative. She said that this product was currently out of stock and that it would not be available until the August date. And...... they were already sold out of the ones that were ordered for August! Needless to say, I was quite disappointed!

So... the search began for a different duvet cover. Pottery Barn has other ones, but none that I liked as much as this one. The colors in this one are perfect for my house!

I have searched the internet and the stores, here in town and can not find anything THIS pretty and THIS reasonable! First of all... Duvet covers are VERY hard to find! And if I DO find them... they are either very plain (like the one that I have now) or they are very "contemporary" or are colors that won't work for me.

I did find these two options while searching the internet....

I found this first one on the Ralph Lauren website. This is the "Catalina Island" collection. I like the blue and white. I could add some green and red, easily.

This one is also Ralph Lauren. It is the "Lake House Herringbone" collection. Not as much blue with this one, but I like how they paired it with the red.

The problem with these two (above) is that they are a good bit higher in price than the one at Pottery Barn! I believe that Macy's sells Ralph Lauren. My plan is to see if they do, and then keep a watch out for them to go on sale!

Anyway.... this is just a "smidgen" of what I have been up to lately!!

Quick Note

Hello, my friends ~

I apologize for being so "absent" over the past few days. I have been incredibly busy and have a lot on my mind, as well!

I hope all of you Mommies out there, had a wonderfully blessed Mother's Day! I know that I did! I hope to share my day with you, soon.

Saturday, I also had a wonderful day! I spent the day with my best friend who lives in Atlanta. We had a blast while shopping and having lunch together! She was on the hunt for a dress to wear to a wedding, and I was on the hunt for a new duvet cover for my bed. She lucked out and found a dress, but I wasn't so lucky! My hunt continues! Then, Saturday evening... David and I attended a concert at our church that I CAN'T WAIT to tell you about!!!

I made one phone call on Friday to another preschool to inquire about a teaching position. I had to leave a message, and after waiting ALL DAY for her to return my call.... I never heard from her. So, I am about to get back on the phone now and start the process again!

I hope to get back online later and write more. Hope you are having a blessed Monday!

Friday Funnies ~ No Pants Day

Yes. You read that correctly! Ha!

Today -- The first Friday in May -- is No Pants Day at the Ginn Mill in Denver, Colorado!

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This news topic caught my eye on my MSN home page. My first thought was... "Isn't that illegal?" ... and then my next thought was.... "Thank God that I don't live there, beause there's no way I would do that!"

It turns out that it is all for a good cause. According to the website... There is a party and the donation to get in is a pair of dress pants. All clothing and monetary donations will go to benefit Denver Works. For 16 years Denver Works has been providing jobseeker workshops, job search assistance, career counseling, work attire, computer accessibility, mentoring, and life-skills training to jobseekers with barriers to employment.

What a great cause! And great for a good laugh!!!

Happy Friday, everyone!!

A decision has been made

Many thanks to all of you that responded to my previous post. It was wonderful to read how several of you understood the situation and made suggestions that really made me think. Thank you!

I have come to the conclusion that this is an impossible situation, and the best solution is to look for other employment.

I learned yesterday that I may never get the chance for advancement if I stay where I am. So, today.... I will sadly be turning in my two weeks' notice.

For those of you that don't know.... Since January of last year (2010), I have worked as a teaching assistant for the preschool that is at the church that I am a member of.  My desire is to be a lead teacher in a 3 or 4 year old classroom. I have plenty of experience, as I have worked with children in a classroom setting, for most of my adult life. I have been the LEAD TEACHER before and enjoy it and miss it very much!

The only reason that I am a teaching "assistant" and not a "lead teacher" right now is that when I applied, there were no open teaching positions. I took the assistant job, thinking that I could move into a teaching position when one opened up.

After my talk with the preschool director yesterday, I don't think she WANTS me in a teaching position. For reasons that I don't even know... she has formed an opinion about me that isn't good! THIS has had me torn up in pieces!! Not to "toot my own horn".... but, I am an excellent teacher and you will rarely find someone that doesn't like me! So, this is something that I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around.

Anyway... I know that God has a plan for my life, and apparently... working there, isn't where I am supposed to be. Or... maybe it was for these past 18 months or so, just as a "stepping stone" to something even better. I just have to trust God and follow His lead.

This is what I will be doing ......

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I guess I could have had a job that was worse!!

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What would YOU do?

What would you do if you applied for a different position, which pays higher, doing the same thing you are doing now. The job requires working more days during the week at the same company you work for now. You were then told by your boss that her/his "gut" feeling was that.... you and the partner that you would be working with, "wouldn't be a good match." ????

You tried asking your boss WHY she/he felt this way, but your boss could not give you an answer. It was just how they "felt".

You are also told that you would be better suited in the same position that you are in now, but with a "weaker" co-worker instead, because you are such a "strong" worker.

How would you feel???

How would you react???

What would you do???

What have I been doing, ...you ask?

Well, among the MANY things, is......

I have been going to the libraries and researching information on my family history.

This past Friday, I went to the library here in the county that I live in (near Columbus, GA). I had recently found out that my paternal grandmother (on my Father's side) was born in this same county! (I had thought that she was born in Alabama!) I went to the library to look through the records there, hoping to find out more about her and my ancestors .

The library has a history book about MY county. It is full of names, photos and information regarding the people that lived (or still live) in the county between the years 1827-1961.

I wrote down as much information, as I could. I even brought my camera to take pics of some of the pages in the book that had more info than I could write.

Through my research, I found out that....

- I have several ancestors who fought in the Civil War.
- One that help start the Southern Railroad through Georgia.
- One that was the county coroner in 1953.
- One that won land in the Cherokee Land Lottery.
- One that fought in WWI.
- One that served on the first Grand Jury of the county and helped to develop to get the building of the county courthouse started and roads for the county.
- One was a County Senator.
- One helped to collect supplies for the soldiers during the Civil War.
- At least one was a slave owner.
- One was a Justice of the Peace.
- One helped to organize the Columbus Baptist Association.

While I was there, I also did more research on my paternal grandfather (my Mother's side) who's family also came from MY county.

I already knew a lot about them, but here's some new info that I learned....

- At least two of my ancestors fought in the Civil War.
- One was the Postmaster in 1883 for my county. The post office was in his home. He also taught school at a church.
- One was a Tax Commisioner.
- One was a teacher.

On Saturday, Miranda and I went to the big Columbus library to do more research. --- Well, she read books about London, England... while "I" did research! I knew that the Columbus library had books on surrounding counties. I wanted to see what I could find out about my maternal grandmother on my mother's side.

I didn't find out as much, but I found a lot of names and also burial locations, which I didn't know before. I also found a "Registery" book for the church that my grandparents were memebers of. The book had tons of names in it .... all handwritten! I am going to have to go back and flip through it slowly, page by page, in order to read the names. I recognized many of the names, tho!

The exciting part is that by finding so many names... I was able to FINALLY trace my grandmother's heritage, which I have dated back to 1678 in ENGLAND!!! -- WAHOO!!  - Marlborough, Wiltshire, England... to be exact!

I am sooo excited!! That is TWO family lines that I have traced back to the same area of England! I want now, to travel so badly to England!! So does Miranda, but she is mostly interested in visiting London. I am hoping that we can somehow make it work so that we can travel there after she graduates from college in two years. I can't wait to walk where my ancestors once walked!

Here's a map of England to show you WHERE in England that my ancestors lived. The red circle is circling SOMERSET. (Sorry that it may be hard to read!)

So Much Going On!

My goodness!! In just a few days time.... SO MUCH has happened!!

Wednesday - 4/27 - was the horrific tornado outbreak! So many lives were literally turned upside down during this awful disaster. I learned yesterday that a friend from church's daughter survived by hiding in the basement of her boyfriend's parents home. This was in a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. The tornado narrowly missed the house that they were in. I cried when I heard this. My friend was in Boston at the time, and did not get the text message that her daughter had sent from the basement, just before the tornado struck.... asking for prayers. My friend praises God that she did NOT get this text message until after the tornado blasted through! I understand her feelings. I can't imagine getting a text message like that and knowing that my daughter was hundreds of miles away and there was nothing that I could do to save her except.... to pray.
 

Friday - 4/29 - was the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton! What a glorious wedding it was! My girls were up at 4am to watch it. I decided that I would DVR it and just wake up whenever my body decided to. Well.... I was up by 5am! Ha!! I hadn't really missed anything, so that was good. The wedding was so magical and fairytale-like!! I loved everything about it!! Kate was beautiful, as usual. Of course.... she could wear a paper sack and still be beautiful!! Prince William was very handsome, as always. I love Prince Harry! He makes me laugh! Kate's sister, Pipa, was gorgeous in her dress, as well!! And, how wonderful for them that it didn't rain! I look forward to hearing more about them as they start their married life, together.

Sunday evening - 5/1 - As my girls and I were watching the TV reality show, "The Celebrity Apprentice"... we learned that President Obama was going to be interrupting our show to give an announcement that was of National Security. This peaked our interest and we waited a long hour until he finally spoke. We learned before he spoke that U.S. military troops had shot and killed Osama Bin Laden!! THANK GOD! It took almost 10 years for our troops to find him, but that is ok. He is now gone. My only worry is that his followers will now find a way to retaliate against us. I love seeing how the people of our nation are celebrating! Last night... my Facebook wall was COVERED in excitement with the news of his death!!! People also gathered on the lawn of our Nation's Capital and at Ground Zero in New York. It is wonderful when we can come together, as a country.

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