Life in Texas!

Here are some images of our new life in Texas. A turtle, a home, and yard work!

Just Mowed My Lawn!

I just mowed my lawn - my lawn! That was a strange feeling....however, I can't really can it a lawn. It needs some work in removing weeds and is dead in a few locations. But I will figure it out.

Buying a house!

So you buy a house and get the key. You pick the moving day and get some fine individuals from church to help you out. You pack up the moving van and drive over to the house. You expect that all is well and that by the end of the day you will be sleeping in your new home. WRONG!!!!

In the case of the Holmstrom's first home the condition in which the home was left was so bad that we were delayed moving in by 9 days! 9 freakin' days! I mean these folks didn't even bother to lift the toilet seat and clean off there pee stains. Not that I was or will ever sit on the toilet until I purchase new seats but come on people, give me a little effort.

Finally however, Megan and I are moved in. When will we finally be finished unpacking....that is a whole other tale to tell.

Oh, Oh, Pretty Jazlynn!

I know what you are thinking - Man she's a babe!

What can I say, Megan and I just don't make

ugly children!

Teacher, Student... Let's Meet in the Middle!

Apparently you can leave the classroom but the classroom will never leave you. This is something that I have had to learn during my first 5 weeks of teaching. Granted, my situation is not the best. I have no classroom, teach a subject that I know nothing about, and have around 130 horny all-knowing seventh graders. What else could I want right! I don't know, a million dollars would work best at the moment but I guess that I will settle for my classroom and learning on the run. It has been a hard five weeks and it is only going to get rougher. So send your prayers because this teacher is still the student after all!

TERMITES, COUGS, & 7th GRADERS...?

The three torns in my side!!!! HAHA! The home we were looking to purchase was inspected on Tuesday and the word of the day was Termites. The damage was in the near ten thousands range. Megan said that she went into the garage and you could see them crawling all over the place. Additionally - the roof needed replacing. Needless so say we backed out of the sale. So we are back to square one but I am sure something will come our way soon.

Other than the house search - those Cougs sure stunk up the field on Saturday - and oh yeah I still got to witness the devestation from Texas. Much like President Bush who is stationed in Texas to assess the hurricane damage, I saw everything. Let me just say we are small on defense and under acheiving on offense - translation - It could be a long season...yikes!

Moving on to my new nemisis - those 7th graders of mine. What a group I have. Last week alone I gave out 4 detentions, had 4 boys make one girl cry, punished around 50 football players for screwin' around in the classroom and made one seating chart. It wasn't a bad first week, just not the one that I pictured. Hopefully things will shape up - I am sure they will! On the bright side, the football is awesome!

Coach Holmstrom & Mr. Holmstrom - Two very different people

It was brought to my attention by one of my seventh graders that I am a very different person on the field compared to the classroom. He asked me, "Why are you so nice in the classroom and so mean on the practice field." I laughed and quickly said, "You've only been in my class two days - give it time!" Really though I guess that could be a complement. The difference really is that in the classroom I like to be fun and talkative with the kids. They respond to that really well. On the field they need to know that it's a battle and nice guys always finish last on the playing field. That's my approach but it works.

On another note - I am having a lot of fun and I am not mean on the field - just loud! My first day I said something along the lines of "this sucks!" But really it is a lot of fun. The kids are great and it is really interesting to be surrounded by so many ethnic groups in one school. It is a bit like college and some of these kids are just as mature as those kids!=) Later.