I've Been So Busy I Haven't Been Able to Blog

It's been a crazy month of May for my family and me. 

I am still looking for full-time work after budget cuts cost me my former full-time job, back in April. I am working near full-time at Mardel Christian Stores; however, at just over minimum wage, it is just under half of what I was making per month at my last job. 

I have signed up to take an additional Teaching Certification in Math. I took a practice test today and only got 3 out of 30 correct. Oh yea, forgot to tell you I signed up to take a Math 8-12 Grade test. I didn't even understand the question on the questions concerning upper level Trigonometry and Calculus. Because of my poor showing I changed the test I am taking from Math 8-12 to Math 4-8. This only covers levels up to Algebra and Geometry with a hint of basic Trigonometry. I take the test in late June. Wish me luck. 

I have filled out applications for three school districts; Kilgore College, and at least 4 other places that are not education institutions. So far no takers except I do need to write an official letter of interest for the Kilgore Collge job and mail it to them. I will do that as soon as I finish this blog. 

My kids start their last week of the school year next week. They only go three days (not counting Monday -- Memorial Day) then it's Summer fun. Next year Caleb will be a Freshman in High School (is he really that old?) and Rachel will be a 7th Grader. We have already been given the speech about how we should join the Band Booster Club and support our Band students. The fun is just starting. 

I have also been feeling sick and puny a lot recently. I missed Monday because of an upset stomach and general aches and pains. Today, I went to work only to throw up in the customer bathroom. I hope it is not the Swine Flu. Today's illness I am going to blame on some bad food. I hope I am feeling better and back to work on Monday. I have tomorrow off anyway. 

I also need to make some major life-style changes. I have been watching my beautiful bride, Jamie, do a total nutritional/diet change over the past few weeks. She is healthier, and loosing some excess pounds she has been wanting to get rid of. I too need to take charge of my food addiction and change my life-style. Getting older is not easier and I need to take care of myself before my blood-pressure and cholesterol take care of me for good. 

Out of my recently posted list of movies I want to watch, I did watch Star Trek. It was good. I am interested to see what they do with the new time-line they established. Oops, did I ruin the plot?

May Day Update

As most of you know I have been working part-time at  Mardel Christian & Education Stores for about two weeks now. 

We were supposed to open this coming Monday, but due to God's blessings 

and hard work, we actually opened on Friday at 4 p.m. In the 4 hours we were open

we made over $3,000. Wow!

I am still looking for full-time work and am hoping to get back into the public 

schools if possible.

I am still waiting to see if my former student, and Dallas Cowboy draft pick,

Manuel Johnson, was injured or not in the recent collapse of the Cowboys

training facility.

Around the house, not much else is going on with English family. If I had a

little more time, I might actually write something of profound thought and

meaning; alas, time escapes me.

This and That Wrap Up for the last few days of March!

There is nothing really exciting going on at the English household at the moment, so I will just wrap up the past few weeks.

Jamie and I are now, Dynamic Marriages certified and hope to start teaching those marriage classes soon at our church.

The Texas Rangers and the rest of Major League Baseball is about to start the 2009 season and I cannot wait! I think the Rangers will field a pretty good team this year, if their pitching holds out.

Apparently there is some sort of government stimulus check coming to us soon. Not sure where this money is coming from except from our own taxes. If that is the case, then we are paying ourselves a bonus from our own pocket. How nice. I can't quit figure out how the government has any of our tax dollars left to give back to us after giving it all to failing banks and companies.

Twogether in Texas, my current employer, is fighting to keep its funding from being eliminated in the Texas Legislature. Apparently the Texas House of Representatives wants to increase our budget, but the Texas Senate wants to cut it or eliminate it. It seems at the present time, we will still have some sort of funding but how much is the question. It is possible I might have to look for another job teaching school again. I am about to sign up to become certified to teach Math.

My bride, Jamie, had a surgical procedure performed on her last week to prepare her for taking a new drug that will help to prevent her from getting breast cancer. She is still a little sore, but recovering.

My kiddos are tired of school and my son especially is worried about Band Camp. He has heard stories of certain kinds of "hazing" or other mischievous play, and he is worried it might happen to him. There are some older band kids that attend our church who have assured him they will do their best to look out for him. That made him feel a little better.

LTC, Leadership Training for Christ, is coming up Easter Weekend. The kids will be competing in various "competitions" that help them develop their Christian characters. Caleb is competing in Art/Photography, Bible Reading and Puppets. Rachel is competing in Art/Drawing, Daily Devotional & Prayer Challenge and Puppets.

I will try to come up with a good devotional or deep thought soon! Until then, I have been very busy and haven't had much time to do anything, including spend time with my family. I need a solid weekend off.

This and That and Miscellaneous Stuff!

Over the past few weeks, I have found it hard to find topics to blog about. Finally, I just decided that I would do a potpourri of various topics until something just stands out.

While driving through the Dallas/Ft. Worth area recently, my wife and I kept seeing the billboards with pictures of people saying, "I am Second!", with the web-site IAmSecond.com underneath. We finally looked this site up. It is a site dedicated to people who are in recovery from various addictive behaviors. These recovering addicts tell their stories about how they realized that they needed God to help them in their lives. By putting God "first" in their lives and putting themselves "second" they are working to overcome their problems and stay on the road to recovery. It is a cool site. I really like the story of Josh Hamilton, who currently plays outfield for my Texas Rangers.

Speaking of the Texas Rangers, baseball season is almost upon us. This is my favorite sport by far of the major 4 (Baseball, Football, Basketball, and Hockey) in the United States. It seems the Rangers are going to have to rely heavily on their young pitchers to step up and perform well. I agree with the Rangers strategy of not "breaking the bank" to sign big name players, and I hope our young guys, with some veteran support can do well this year. If I get to attend any Ranger games live this year, I will have to get a Josh Hamilton t-shirt.

Other news from the baseball front. It seems the ever so wonderful, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroid use back in 2003. Well, well, what a surprise! It seems baseball's golden boy did a little juicing himself. What is really sad, because of this recent scandal, one sports writer has resorted to calling the Rangers the worst abusers of steroids in baseball. The nerve of that guy. I am not going to sit here and say none of the Texas Rangers have ever used steroids, but to call them the worst abusers in the league; Come on man!

I refuse to comment on the goings on with our nation's government. If you have read any of my past blogs, I think you know I feel about throwing out billions of dollars to agencies, businesses, and even the common tax payers in an effort to stop the current financial crisis we are in. Hey, I am not about to turn down free money, if it comes my way, but I think we brought this crisis on ourselves by not being good stewards of the boundless blessings God gave us. Throwing more money our way will not help us learn the lessons we need to learn to prevent this from happening again in the future. I guess I commented after all! Sorry!

Sunday, our preacher, gave us an excellent lesson about. "Flying Stand-By!" Have you ever flown stand-by? I have not. People who fly stand-by have to wait to find out if someone else has cancelled a flight or if their will be any unbooked seats on a plane in order to board that particular flight. It creates lots of uncertainties and stress because they do not know if they will be able to board the plane or not. People who have already booked their flights and have their tickets can arrive at the gate with a more relaxed attitude because they know they are going to get on the plane.

As Christians many of us live like we are on "stand-by" when it comes to our eternal salvation. Despite the many promises of God and the gift of Grace through the death of Jesus, many Christians have not accepted God's "free ticket" to get into Heaven. We still believe we have to earn our way into Heaven. We live a life of uncertainty, as if we are unsure if we will get into Heaven or not. Those Christians who have fully accepted the Grace of God through Jesus, can live a life focused on the important things we have to do while still here on this Earth. We can relax (to an extent) knowing we are going to going to live with our King forever. All we have to be concerned about is fighting the battle against darkness and making sure others know that God has give them a free-ticket on the plane to Heaven.

Also just to catch you up on the recent concerns regarding Jamie's health; read her recent blog about what is going on with her health.