And That's When She Became...The Bachelorette!

I do not know many of you our there who were fans of one of my favorite 90's sitcoms, The Nanny, but my tagline this entry is dedicated to...Miss FINE!!! (Can you hear Mr. Sheffield calling down the hall now?)

The Nanny no more, I have given up the evenings of Friday and Saturday post Masters and new Phoenix to take the time to branch out and spread my new wings. One has to when even the plastic surgeon looks you directly in the big brown eyes and says, "You'll never meet anyone lesson planning...at least take it to a bookstore." I know that this advice comes from a place of love and caring about my emotional well-being...making sure that I really do take the oppertunity to put myself out there to meet and greet with love. (Dare-I-Pen-It...Finding Love Is Scary!) I did take the time within the past two weeks to step outside the nest of my classroom to find love, or at least to let love find me.

The M & M's out for the Night with Keith Urban in Tow....

The first Friday Night adventure of the school year was on August 19 to attend Keith Urban with my favorite fifth grade female...Lindsay and her sweet sister, Michelle. We went out to dinner and then sang the night away with our handsome date!

Any other news from the doctor this past week? Well, there were two appointments, both filled with positives and negatives. Positives, I am cleared for swimming exercises and weight lifting, elliptical machines and stationary bikes. Negatives, I am not to go running outside again as my arthritis in the right knee is looking at injections starting in October if not clearning up. I shared my wounded heart with my parents on Saturday that my bucket list goal of running a half marathon would never be completed now. My sweet father, simply placed his strong arms around me and held me in the booth at Olive Garden and said, "Punkin Girl, you have achieved so many other dreams, this dream is one that may have a different ending than you intended." Very true my wise father.

Out to support Doug Billing's with his Dazzeling Divas for the Night.

Bets and I Lookin' Fab! (My Newest Favorite of the Two of Us!)

Which Handsome Gentleman Will We Choose?

Having Fun Watching the Studs Strut Their Stuff...

(My Stud I bought myself...Date Next Saturday Night, Sept. 10)

This past week, I gave to cancer research! Yes, I can say that my attending the American Cancer Society Bachelor Auction down at Howl at the Moon last Thursday evening was truly to raise money for a good cause...well...more like two good causes...cancer research and my love life. Do I feel like both were winners...too soon to say. Yet, I did have a fabulous time getting dressed up and attending the gala with Jodi Danzinger and the other Dazzeling Divas who went out to offer support of Doug Billings and friends. One of my bucket list items was to attend a bachelor auction and win a date...CHECK! I did! Yes, you read that right. I went to the auction, and I won myself a man. Details of the date to come later. Nice guy, Good Chemestry and Fun Date Planned...well worth the $ I shelled out for the night

Betsy also had her birthday this past week. Which meant that two nights in a row I was on the town...big weekend for me. We sang the night away at her favorite local spot, The Other Place in Olathe where Bob (the dj friend of ours) came over to celebrate his weight loss and share with me his progress. I was so very touched to learn that he is making strides in his life to live a more active and healthy lifestyle. What a blessing it is to talk and share information about lifestyle changes.

Beautiful Betsy and I wearing Black and White for the Night...

The joy of attending a movie, which is on the Happiness Project was also achieved this past month. I went to see the Help on Saturday Evening down at CinemaSuites on Mainstreet 6 at Power and Light on Saturday eveing. The book by Katheryn Stockett was a book recommended by Betsy as I was recovering from surgery. It was truly right up there with, "To Kill a Mockingbird" in my reading repitour. I savored each page which Katheryn composed in a symphony of understanding of what life would have been like to love and invest of yourself in the life of a family only raise children to be racially biased. If you have not taken the oppertunity this year to read or see a film in the theater, this one was well worth the money.

How is the school year so far? Well, I have some special friends this year...but that is what makes the year...special friends. They are the students that you look back upon and say, "I grew because of them, and I am a better educator because I taught them." I know this to be true because I am in love with all of them! I have yet to have a student breeze across the threwshold of my room this year and groan. Each one of them is unique and special...quirky...that is how I will describe this class...we are a quirky group this year...perfect for a quirky and fiesty lady like me.

On the focus of my faith, I have been reading, "Everybody's Normal Till You Get to Know Them." It reminds me of "Primal Leadership, Learning to Lead with Emotional Inteligence." This book seems to be the Christian form of the relationship builder and goal setting of healing relationships and looking for ways to invest and be a better more effective communicator in the lives of people around us. How could I not want to share the wonderful chiseling away at my heart which the Lord is doing to make me a more multi-faceted and loving individual for his Kingdom. What a blessing to take the oppertunity to say, here I am Lord, form me into more. (Yet at the same time, simply scary as well.)