Yes, perhaps if I say the name enough, she'll realize it's hers, and wonder what it is I want. Then she'll come on out and come see me to find out. Let's all just say her name a whole lot...Taryn, Taryn, Taryn....She's bound to be as curious and nosy as TJ and I are!

I went to church this morning. I just barely made it to Sunday School--I was a tad bit late. It was partially my fault for sleeping too long, after I couldn't sleep last night. I would have been okay, except that TJ had a royal fit when I woke him up. He insisted on Trey coming and watching him eat his breakfast! Trey didn't get home till almost 3 am last night, and was up much later than that trying to wind down. Then he had to be up by 10:30 this morning to go back to work. TJ throwing himself on the floor and screamin for his attention this morning at the foot of our bed surely didn't help his situation. I felt really bad for him. I hope he was alright and his day at work went okay. Anyway, when I got there, Wendy was still there. She is due May 27th, I think, and I was really hoping she would have already gone. I told her last time I saw her that I didn't want to see her again for a long time! She said she only came today to see if I was there! Sure enough, I was...and probably will be next week, and the next week, too! Ugh!

The service was kinda cool, though. The youth ran it, and they had some cool songs, although they were upbeat and instrumental. I think most people were confused, and scared to sing along. I know I was! One solo a girl did, called "God's Will", made me cry. It was a sweet story (in a song) about a little boy with cancer that knew he was going to die, but trusted in God, whose mom had to work two jobs and had no dad. The girl was an awesome singer, and the song, well, brought tears to my eyes. I tried really hard not to cry, too. For some reason, lately, I seem to have a problem with people thinking I have feelings and that I cry at stuff. During the last mom's group meeting I was at, a girl told her story of an accident that almost killed her, and there wasn't a dry eye in the room. I wanted to ball. However, I tried with all my might to supress the urge, and managed to just let a couple of tears roll out. Afterwards, all I could think was, "Why do I care if a bunch of women see me, especially pregnant and totally emotional, crying?" I dont' get it at all...

Oh, last night I ran into Mr. James that I used to work with at DJJ. He was the teacher across the hall from me, and I loved him to death. He's been teaching for about 35 years or so, and still has his mind totally with it. He's been at DJJ for almost all of those years, and I honestly can't understand how or why. He even retired and came back for five more years. He's trying now to make it till he's 62 in a couple of years, but I wonder if he will. He's seen as much as can be seen there, and he says it's at its worst now. That's a lot coming from him, b/c he's not the complaining type. I miss him, though. He has, like three or four children, and about three thousand grandchildren. On workdays I don't know how we ever got anything done, b/c as soon as we saw each other, we'd go off on stories of grandchildren and TJ. It was great! Some stories of his I'd heard a hundred times, but I would never tell him that, b/c I loved hearing them over and over again! I hope I run into him more often. I told him I'd see him at Wal-Mart, and sure enough that's where he saw us. He came up behind me and said, "Hi, TJ!" It scared the crap out of me! I knew his voice, but had no idea who would be talking to my son just out of the blue! I was so happy when I saw who it was! If you want to see what I wrote about him before I was gone, here it is: "Ode to Mr. James"

I felt bad, though, when we talked about work. I told him that I really don't miss it at all. I don't even think about many of my students that much. I feel like I should. I mean, it was a LARGE part of my life for a long time there, and it scares me just how fast and easily I dropped it for my new life. He told me that M. S., a boy I'd had who left and had come right back before I departed, came to his room the period after I left, and was like, "Did Ms. Pitchford get fired!?" I told him the students always know what's going on first! He was mainly concerned b/c I was supposed to reward them the next day and we were going to have a cooking lesson. I have to say that was the biggest thing to upset me when I left, was that they must have all been so mad and upset that we didn't get to cook the next day. I feel like I broke a promise to them, which I did, just not intentionally. They had earned it, and that sucks. I also found out that my one thorn student is still there, and that he's only gotten worse. I need to pray more for him. It's my understanding that even his mom has pretty much given up on him. That makes me so sad, b/c I've seen what a good guy he can be, and he's on a downhill track. I told him to tell him hi for me, even though that won't mean anything to him. I wonder why, of all people in the world, this one guy could matter so much to me? I wish I could help him. Oh, and one more thing, then I'll leave you alone...I also heard that one of my students that I've been waiting on forever to go home...is! He lives in Columbia, near Two Notch, so I might have to start hanging out at the mall sometimes to try to run into him! That was nice to hear, especially after all the other bad stuff he told me. Please, if you get a chance, pray for everyone at SCDJJ, even the ones that are creating the problems. That is a terrible place to be right now for everyone involved, and I am so lucky to be free from there. Unfortunately, a lot of people are stuck there, and there lives are being ruined b/c of it.

Alright, that's enough from me for now. I hope you have a thrilling new week, and I'll see you soon!