Pythagorean Theorem= 2 crazy parents and a frustrated teenager

We started the semester with a couple of goals in mind. One, form a mathematical foundation to build upon. Two, establish meaningful friendships and relationships with people of good character. Three, become involved with an extracurricular activity that will have a positive effect on Destiny's mental and physical well being.

Sunday started a goal #2 for all of us. We started going back to Church of the Highlands. Josh and I went there a couple of times as college kids, but we never made it a priority. Now that we have Destiny, we don't have a choice, but to make it a priority. We still have a long road ahead of us in this area. However, I can't deny the morals and values that growing up in church taught me. So for now, we are taking it one Sunday at a time. That morning we met with a lady that told us about "Switch" (their Jr High and High group). That night Destiny wanted to go. We took her and she hit it off with some great people. Fingers are crossed that she will continue to like the positive environment that is there and continue to want to go.

As for goal #1, well it's a work in progress. At home we have been working on remedial Math skills (adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing). If you are thinking, "What in the world are they doing teaching a 14 year old that?" Well, you are right. Destiny is very far behind in Math. So as we are studying the simple things, at school she is still responsible for grade level material. This week is was Pythagorean Theorem or if you are at our house- the dreaded 9th layer of HELL. I have to give a shout out to her teachers at school. They have done a great job of letting us know what is expected of her every step of the way. So we dropped remedial math and started on the daunting task of geometry. We spent countless hours studying, some yelling, a little crying but.... It finally paid off! I got a call late Friday afternoon stating that she probably got a high B or low A on her test. WAHOOO!!! Lord, I never thought I would be this excited again over a grade. It wasn't only the grade that meant so much, but the proof that she doesn't have a learning disability and that she is fully capable of learning this material with some help. Celebrate the small battles until you have victory! She will start remedial Math tutoring on Monday as we continue to chisel away at grade level material. So keep your fingers crossed for us and any prayers regarding our sanity will be much appreciated. We are going to need it!

Next week is a pretty big week for myself. Late December Josh and I noticed that our schedules needed to change. It isn't fair for Destiny to come home to an empty house every night. So, we began looking for other jobs. A week later, I was called to meet a lady from the School of Nursing, two days later I met with the dean. When we came back from Christmas break I found out that I GOT THE JOB!! If you have ever applied to work for AU you know that this process is a tedious one and takes a while for final decisions to be made and paperwork to be filled. It is unheard of that something like this moved so fast. It's just another testament to God's will. My first day at my new job is Monday. I will be the Coordinator of Development for both main campus and AUM. Honestly, I will miss my callers, they always seemed to brighten my day and have a surprisingly smart outlook of life. However, I'm looking forward to working a normal 8-5 schedule for one in my life. This means normal nuclear morning and afternoons. Even weekends off! Truly an answer to prayer.

So as you can tell Josh and I are still alive and kicking although this past week seemed to hit us in way we never thought. Learning to communicate not only as a teacher but as a parent is a constant struggle. We are still trying to share interest in boys, cell phones, and silly text messages. We know they are important to her, but seem trivial to us. We are constantly trying to learn new ways of getting our point across. It seems as though parents tend to learn more than the actual children do while they are growing up. Josh and I are in this thing double-time. Looking back on both our teenage years, I think we have our work cut out for us!