TExMaT/ T-3

Two topics of excitement here...

First, I received an e-mail this morning stating that my scores were ready to be seen. These would be the scores from the big nasty test I took on April 17th for my Master Reading Teacher Certification. My heart started racing, my palms immediately turned sweaty and I could have sworn that I felt baby Shack hit me with all four appendages! Ok, maybe not but I was nervous to find out how I did! I logged in to my account and found my score and had no idea what that meant...did I pass?...did I fail? I kept reading and saw something that made much more sense to my simple mind...it read "Status: Passed" YEAH!!! I passed my test! Now all I have to do is take (and also pass) one last class (Assessment in Reading) this summer and I can be recommended for certification for MRT through the state of Texas. Whew! One more notch in the belt...I am now certified in 3 areas...EC-4, ESL and MRT. I dare a school district not to find a job for me now! "You have an opening where? Oh, I have a certification in that, no problem!" Ok, I know I am acting a little ridiculous now but that MRT test was the most difficult test I have ever taken so I am VERY excited that I passed.

Secondly and on an entirely different plane of excitement...I leave to go and see the love of my life, after 137 days of a skype relationship, in 2 days and will see him in 3 days. 3 days and I will be able to wrap my arms around him. I am not sure I will be able to keep myself from crying when I see him at the airport at 0521 am (Seoul time) on Friday (1521 Thursday Texas time) due to the fact that I am sure I will be utterly exhausted from 28 hours of traveling AND I will be so happy to see him and don't want to hug him so tight that he stops breathing. That leaves me with only one option for channeling my crazy-HAPPY emotion...crying.

At the same time, I have so many friends who have recently began their 137+ day journey without their beloveds. Many of Jared's and my friends are now in various areas of the Middle East. We have friends at 3 different bases who have gone down range, leaving their families to go on with life as "normal." I hope that they all know how often I think of them, miss them, pray for them and wish them the best as the Middle East is more tumultuous than South Korea. Although, no matter where our husbands are, they risk their lives for our country every day. For that we are grateful. (If you aren't grateful you should be, and we need to have a talk.) Those of you who are just beginning this journey with 1/2 of your heart missing, please know that you have so many prayers being sent in your direction and in the direction of your husband, and you and your husband will continue to have these prayers being said for you until you two are reunited. Please know that I would drop anything for my Airforce family, if you needed me I would be there. Please let me know how I can be there for you.

And because I want to make you smile at least once today...Here is a joke I found on the internet. Have a wonderful day!

A pilot, Michael Jordon, Bill Gates, the Pope, and a pizza delivery man were all in a plane together traveling through stormy conditions.

Suddenly, the pilot came running back to the passengers and announced that lightning had hit the plane, and they were going to crash in a matter of minutes. "There are only enough parachutes for four of the five of us," he announced. "Since I'm the pilot, I get one!" After saying this, the pilot grabbed a parachute and jumped out of the plane.

"I'm the world's greatest athlete," proclaimed Michael Jordon. "This world needs great athletes, so I must live." Michael Jordon then grabbed a parachute and leaped out of the plane.

"I'm the smarest man in the world," bragged Bill Gates. "The world needs smart men, so I must also live!" Bill Gates grabbed a parachute and jumped out of the plane.

At this point, the Pope began to speak. "I have lived a long life compared to you, and you may take the last parachute. I will go down with the plane."

"You don't have to stay here! The world's smartest man jumped out of the plane with my backpack."