Whew!

I just found out my placement for student teaching next semester. I will be teaching kindergarten!! I was in shock for a few days but I am looking forward to it. I start January 18. I have been substitute teaching here in our district everyday since the week before finals. Manage to keep myself busy - too busy actually. Tomorrow I am taking the day off, I have my massaged scheduled that I won from the triathlon and I'm looking forward to that!!

We are celebrating Christmas Eve with our neighbors from Mississippi and are being treated to their traditional Christmas Eve meal - shrimp gumbo! Then we are all going to head to the Christmas Eve service here on post.

Christmas Day we are celebrating with another neighbor. Lori's husband is deployed so her and her three kids are coming over for Christmas dinner and an afternoon of hanging out and playing games. Should be a great time. Lori is the gal I run with every morning (o.k. - most mornings...). We are contemplating a marathon in May in Pennsylvania. My mind keeps going back and forth between - I can do this/I am CRAZY/I can do this/I am CRAZY! Maybe you can be the judge.

I AM FINISHED!!

I left the house this morning at 7:45am and after three presentations today, I got in my van at 8:00pm and drove away from campus for a good month! What an excellent feeling! I start again on January 18th but I don't even want to think about that right now. My two happy thoughts - I'm halfway finished with the program and CHRISTMAS is coming!!

Two More Days of School!

I have a final on Thursday night and then next week Tuesday I have three presentations and then I'm finished!! - for the semester anyway. But it is a great feeling to know I only have to drive to Trenton 2 more times this month! Yes!

My Discover Card Ad

few minor assignments dues - annoying but do-able
4 major projects and 1 final exam - blood, sweat and tears
1 free hour massage - priceless!

Hooray - I won the top prize for the Ironman Triathlon Challenge. I am looking forward to the massage. It is going to be my reward for finishing this semester. Everything should be finished up by December 15 and I can't wait!

HAPPY Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We got up in the dark and headed to NYC for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, something I thought we should see in person while we were here. Well - now we can say, "been there, done that." What an amazing mass of people! We were on the sidewalk on the corner of 57th St and 7th Ave. I think we were about 15 people deep away from the curb. It neat to see and be there but without the TV announcer telling us who was on each float it was hard to know exactly we were looking at. I'm not that celebrity savvy. The best part was the two older ladies who got into a fight about three people away to my right. First heated words about who was standing where, then some shoving, then screaming, pushing, hair pulling, cursing, scratching! Wow! A couple of guys jumped in and pulled them apart but they didn't want to give it up. One guy finally shoved his mom away down the street. Quite the scene. After that Santa came by and the parade was over. I was so mad at myself while we drove to the train station this morning because I forgot my camera. After we got on the train I remembered the camera was in the van...Ugh! Sometimes I really don't like myself. I ended up buying a disposable camera in NYC. Now I need to get the film developed...

BIG NEWS!!

Charles has birthed a book! It has been very similar to a pregnancy - complete with delivery and all. And boy is it nice to have the final product in our hands. It is a project he has been working on for almost two years. (SO glad pregnancy doesn't last that long...) In Danger Every Hour is a story about a group of childhood friends growing up in Virginia. As they reach adulthood the civil war is beginning to brew. These life long friends have to decide what side is right and who they are going to support and fight for. It is a great mix of drama and actual history. Now we've started new phases of the process - marketing and shipping!!

Madison made a comment last night about how she felt like she lived in the North Pole. I totally wasn't tracking with her and asked, "What are you talking about?" I'm thinking, the weather here has been very mild. "Because it looks like Santa's workshop in here!" She did have a point. There were boxes, envelopes, packing materials, and books everywhere! We are working out all the kinks of the process. If you want more information about the book check out our website at www.causeybooks.com.

Sorry!

Not much new to report here. Nick's Cross Country team missed going to state by four points. Disappointing but already looking on to winter track - didn't even know there was such a thing. Maddie's Cross Country team ended the season with her team undefeated. She has part in the school play - Sherlock Holmes. Hannah's fall ball season ended with one win but good playing time and pitching experience. She has a part in her school's play - Alice in Wonderland. Isaiah is not involved in a darn thing and I am grateful! Charles just self-published his first book. Hooray! It is a great read and I'm not just saying that. We hope to have our website up and running soon so you can purchase a copy if you so desire. I'll keep you posted on that. School is rolling along for me. I'm in my third grade class in Trenton full-time now and still have projects and papers due for my other classes back on campus. I'll be hitting the library all day tomorrow to make a dent in all my assignments. Hopefully my next post will be stories from the trenches at school. Touching and heart-breaking.

10 miler pictures

Before with my neighbor Lori:


After!



I'm the one looking a little worn out. I got a side ache at about the five mile mark. Lori was trying to give me a little pick me up around mile seven saying we were going to pick out a person ahead of us and then go pass them. My response was something like, "No." She kept at it and would pick out someone walking - who I would pass anyway. Finally I yelled, "I'm not playing any of your games!" Too funny. She is a great gal especially putting up with me at 5am when we run together. I'm not the friendliest in the morning - in my opinion it is the middle of the night.

Lori finished 15 seconds ahead of me and she was about 200 places ahead of me. Crazy! Charles finished four minutes behind me and about 1900 places back. There was a ton of people!



If you go to armytenmiler.com and put in my bib number of 23872 you can see great pictures of the start. We started way behind the white balloon arch and beyond that were orange and purple arches. It truly was an amazing experience.

I DID IT!!!

Had the most excellent day yesterday! Weather was awesome as was the company. It was a great experience. Here are my stats:


Time: 1:31:10 Place: 8407 /21636 Pace: 9:07

I think we could have kept it under 1:30 but I had to use the port-a-potties at the four mile mark and there was a line.

I will post my pictures later - I'm off to school because I am still able to walk.

Heading out to D.C.

It's finally here - the big weekend! The weather looks perfect. I feel pretty good, managed to keep away from injury and sickness. By golly I think I'm ready! If you want to look at info about the race the website is armytenmiler.com. I don't think they have a "chip tracker." With a chip tracker you could enter my race number and and it would show you on a route map as I passed certain points through out the race. But they don't have it so I will quit talking about it.

Here are a few pictures from last weekends Rusksack Run. Our two teams that ran.

This is the team I was on: My neighbor Lori is in red, my neighbor Becky in blue, Lori's friend Brian in black and of course me.


Coming across the finish!!



Nick is the photographer for this weekend. Hopefully he'll get some good shots. I think it will be easier to get shots of my running than I have getting photos of him in action! That's a whole nother blog that I need to do. Did you know that I live with the fastest freshman in Burlington County, NJ? It's official! I do!

Beautiful Weekend!

My dear friend Holle flew in from MN for the weekend. We both participated in the Rucksack Run to honor GoldStar moms. GoldStar moms are mothers who have lost a son or daughter in combat. The event starts with a ceremony to honor the GoldStar moms and then the race begins. The moms are driven along the course in Humvees and they cheer for us as they drive by. It is really an incredible experience. Hannah and Charles also ran the race with us. It was a 10k and as always, a very touching event. Next weekend - Army 10 miler in D.C.!!!

I'm keeping my head above water in school. Kids are doing great. Nick is officially the fastest freshman in Cross Country in Burlington County. The varsity ran in the Burlington County Open and Nick placed 19th overall and was honored as the first freshman to finish. Pretty cool. His time was 17:36 for 3.1 miles. Figure out the minute per mile time on that! Maddie and Hannah have each been selected for lead roles in their schools plays. They are both fired up about that. Hannah has 2 games left in fall ball and has enjoyed the season very much. Isaiah just does homework and hangs out with friends and he is very happy with that. He has started Awana again and enjoys it. Charles' back has healed well and work is going well. He is also running in the 10 miler next weekend.

Th-th-th-at's all folks!

My life pretty much stinks right now!

That's all I have to say.

Spare Time Confession

This is in response to a comment posted on my last blog wondering what I do in my spare time. Confession - yesterday I had about an hour and 1/2 between classes. I crawled into the backseat of my van, set my cellphone alarm clock and slept for an hour!

Life is flying!

I am holding my head as high as I can and only keeping my nose out of the sea of school work assigned to me! Wednesday I start in the Trenton Public School System. I've been assigned to a third grade class in Grant Elementary. 52% of the students are native Spanish speakers. A dress code is enforced for the students because of gang tensions. Pray for me. Thess are inner-city kids who don't have much. Please pray that I can be Jesus to these kids.

Nick has been doing great in XC. Last meet he finished 10th overall and the 5th guy to finish for Northern Burlington Varsity. His time was 18:03 for 3.1 miles. I can't even do two miles in that time. Maybe I have a broken leg... Anyway, his next meet is tomorrow.

Maddie is plugging away at XC. Not her favorite but she is hanging in there. Her first meet is tomorrow. She is doing great in school and doing a lot of babysitting lately. She invested in a pet mouse over the weekend. I'll post pictures of "Chrysanthemum" at another time.

Hannah celebrated her 12th birthday over the weekend. She desperately wanted a pet so she got two hamsters - "Squish" and "Peanut." I can't believe we are willingly living with rodents... She is playing fall ball and doing a lot of pitching and loving every minute of it.

Isaiah is living large enjoying third grade. The highlight of his day is 3:20pm when he gets home, takes off his shoes and goes to play with his neighborhood buds.

Charles is doing well, recovering from back surgery. He hopes to start doing light running this week. Overall he is doing great. He has written and published his first novel. We hope to have it in print by November.

I'm crossing off the weeks, looking forward to mid-December, the end of my semester. How pathetic! I'm also plugging away at my triathlon and training for my 10 mile race in October.

Cross Country has started!

Nick had his first XC meet today. This one was run by grade level rather than varsity/JV. There were about 270 freshman boys. Nick got 12th!! It was a two mile course and his time was 11:05. He did really awesome!

Everyones First Day

Are these symptoms of a mid-life crisis?

I was being a bit introspective the other day. I really don't have time for much of that, but I was looking at the things that are a part of my life right now that a year ago I would have scoffed at.

Item #1. My neighborhood friend, Becky (my native MN pal and Vikings fan extraordinaire) and I are training for the "Army Ten Miler." This race is October 24 in Washington,D.C. and hosts 30,000 runners! The race registrations were sold out in 36 hours! The part that has Becky and me really frightened is that if you aren't at the 5 mile mark at a certain time they re-route you and you are out of the race. It's about a 15 minute mile pace so it isn't blazing fast but there is always that little "what if" plaguing us in the back of our minds. How embarrassing that would be! Another thought that nags me is that I paid money to do this! Hello?! That brings me to item #2.

Item #2. One day when Becky and I were faithfully exercising at the gym, we noticed a poster for the "Ironman Triathlon Challenge." We look at each other and say, "Why not? It's free. We are training anyway, this way our training counts toward something." The Ironman Triathlon Challenge works like this: I have from July 6 until November 12 to complete the following: swim 350 laps equivalent to 5 miles, bike 250 miles and run 90 miles. I have a little sheet and keep track each day I run how far I run, bike or swim and I cannot log more than 10 miles in one day. It is all on the honors system meaning I could just write down a bunch of stuff and say that I did it (but that would be cheating). I have made a little tracker on the side of the blog that shows where I am in my challenge. It is hard to find time to get this done because...

Item #3. I'M IN GRAD SCHOOL FULL-TIME! What was I thinking!!?

I think the only thing missing from my possible mid-life crisis is item #4. a shiny, brand new, red convertible, 2 door, heated seats...

Summer Freedom Ends!

We spent our last free summer day at the Jersey Shore today. It was beautiful! About 90 degrees, light breeze, crashing surf. The only thing that could have made it better would be to have a few more days like this!

I start school tomorrow (Tuesday - yikes!!), Nick and Maddie start Thursday, and Hannah and Isaiah start Friday! Whew! Brief run down - I'm in 17th grade, Nick will be in 9th, Maddie in 8th, Hannah in 6th and Isaiah in 3rd. Just think - we can spend our evenings and weekends doing homework all together!

Friday Already??

Charles is home and doing well. He is up and around, feeling good. He has 18 stitches that he needs to get out next week. The recovery seems to be going well! Thanks for your prayers.

Surgery Day

Our time in Minnesota was great! I'll post more about that soon. Today however, I am sitting in the waiting room in a hospital in Trenton. Charles is having a small back surgery performed today. He has struggled with the pain and discomfort of a herniated disk for sometime and the issue has not resolved itself. So today a surgeon is chipping out a small portion of bone to relive pressure on a nerve. I spoke with the surgeon a short time ago and the surgery went well. I'm just waiting for Charles to come out of recovery and into his room so I can see him. He will spend one night in the hospital and I will bring him home tomorrow.

Pray that he heals well and recovers without any complications.

Overview of July

In July we packed everyone in the van and headed to Alabama for the wedding of Charles’ niece, Meghan Causey. Isaiah celebrated his 9th birthday on the road.



He opened gifts in the breakfast room of our hotel. It’s a great thing he’s an easy-going little fellow. I’m not sure all of our kids would have been content with a birthday like that. We arrived at Nat (Charles’ brother) and Pam’s new house.



We all had a fabulous time. The bride and the wedding were absolutely gorgeous.





Of course they squeezed in a juicy game of Risk.





Dad and Nadine made it down from NJ as well. We had the pleasure of meeting Pam’s mother, Sybil. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her.







They also squeezed in a trip to the Air and Space Museum while in AL. I think they had fun...





After everyone returned from AL, the kids and I piled into the trusty old van again and headed out to MN. We made it just past Chicago in one day. That was a lot of driving!! 870 miles to be exact. We spent the night with our good friends the Ashwills. Friendships like theirs are a treasure. We can pick up right where we left off no matter how much time has gone by since our last visit.



Once in MN, there were friends and relatives to spend time with.
Isaiah and "best bud" cousin Jake.



Isaiah & Autumn



Hannah and her friend Autumn.



Nick and his pal Preston.



Maddie and Hannah with their friends Megan and Amanda,



Aunt Sara came through and had a belated birthday party for Isaiah complete with decorations, cake, singing, and a gift. Way to go Aunt Sara!





I left the kids in MN in various places with friends and relatives and flew back to NJ to finish my class. To be honest, my brief stay in MN was less then appealing. I came down with a stomach bug. I’ll sum up by saying I lost a lot of weight!

As I write this I am at 32,000 ft, flying back to MN a week sooner than I expected. My Grandma Schoon passed away Saturday morning. I was hoping to spend a day with her during our visit but that is not to be. I know she is in a much better place. She had lost her sight over the years and I wish I could have seen her when she opened her eyes in heaven. What a moment that must have been! I’m looking forward to seeing many relatives I haven’t had the opportunity to see for quite awhile. I am kicking myself – I forgot my camera. Maybe I’ll have Charles overnight it to me!

June

I really thought I was going to be able to catch up sooner than this. June brought a new change for our family. I started school June 1!! So far so good. I'm into my second summer session already. It ends Aug. 12. The fall semester starts Aug. 31 - way too soon!

I also was able to make up a missed birthday party. Nick and I had tried and tried to find a Saturday to take a few guys out to eat to celebrate his birthday. We managed to find a weekend in June when everyone was free. We ate a Japanese Hibachi grill. Food was good and I think they all enjoyed themselves.



School finally ended for the kids on June 18. Makes for a short summer when you go that late.

Charles and Nick had a unique experience. They were able to meet with Jeff Shaara. He's a fairly well-known author who write war novels. They sat a small cafe and had a great time picking his brain and listening to his stories.



Next week I'll cover July and then I'll be current!

I'm shrinking....

On to May

May was filled with mayhem and madness! Madison was in the school musical 'Guys and Dolls.' She played the roll of a guy. The musical was fabulous! It was so much fun to watch her perform.



Next our anniversary (17 years - thank you very much!) and Mother's Day.



All through May, baseball and softball are in full swing for Isaiah and for Maddie and Hannah. Maddie was a mean third baseman and left fielder.



Hannah played shortstop and did some pitching.





Isaiah pitched, caught and played first base. He ended his season with the best personal stats of everyone on his team!


I know - I know! His hands need to be together on the bat. We've worked on this.



Nick is running his heart out in track and breaks the school record in the mile with a time of 4:54!! He also recorded his personal best in the half mile with a time of 2:20 on the same day. Sorry-no picture.

Isaiah accomplished his goal of finishing all three spark books in one year!



Awards night was on my birthday. (I got a new camera - now I should be able to photograph Nick in action next season!) He earned his Sparkie plaque and the ribbons!

Then we packed up and went camping at Niagara!




We camped with our good friends the Laras, and the Fersons. Here is a shot of all of us at the Visitor's Center cramming into one elevator!





The falls were breath-taking! We had the best weekend! The weather was gorgeous, the campground we stayed at was fabulous, and the friends enjoyed! I really don't think we could have put one more thing into the month!