The Kate Box

It's been a while since I've spent this much time in Conway, and I've been doing some reflecting while here. It's interesting how I now have more than one home. When I'm in Bentonville, I am at my new home. It feels like home, looks like home, and when away (even in Conway), I feel a little distant because I'm not home. However, when I return to Conway (where Wes and I both grew up), the feeling of home comes back. It's a little different though. I live out of a suitcase, my domestic abilities and tendencies fly out the window (thanks, mom and Susie), and I feel like I'm kind of on vacation. I get to see and spend quality time with family, try to reconnect with old friends (sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't due to crazy schedules), and eat wonderful homecooked meals. Mom and I shop, my family talks and watches movies, I eat and play at the Walker's, and I drive around the town knowing all of the back roads. So I guess the reflecting started when I realized I've kind of been walking through this holiday week in a rather somber mood. I'm home with the people I love the most, but because it's not my "home" anymore, I relax a little more and just enjoy what goes on around me.
Christmas this year was wonderful. I enjoyed getting to come here a few days early so that I could spend more time with my brother who lives in California. On Christmas Eve, Wes came in around 5:00, we ate an incredible dinner, and then we went to church. The music at the service was beautiful as always. My grandmother who has dementia attended and really appeared to take it all in, as well as participate in communion. My family played Trivial Pursuit, ate/drank Boiled Custard, watched A Christmas Carol (George C. Scott version of course), and got in our Christmas pajamas. Christmas morning was a special time for the five of us. We exchanged gifts and then set off to get the rest of the crew in the house. This involves an intricate plan of wheelchair manuevering and car shuffling. After a few hours, the house was filled. We ate my favorite breakfast of the whole year and then exchanged gifts with the new guests. Tears were shed all morning and afternoon. As we sang Christmas carols around the piano, Pappaw mouthed the words to Silent Night, although not one word was spoken by him all day. Mammaw sang along to Jingle Bells. Patsy blessed the food with a very sentimental prayer. And Granny wrote each person an extremely meaningful note. I guess a lot of the somberness was encouraged by these events. I experience the cycle of life during the holidays, as I go from my family's house with several elderly grandparents to Wes' house with five children five years of age and under. Ok, enough reflection and rambling. All this to say, I'm here in Conway at my in-law's and loving being with family. I hope and pray you all had a wonderful Christmas. It's a joy to know that we can celebrate the meaning of the holiday all year long. May God bless you all in ways beyond our understanding.

We need help! We have decided to get a puppy, and although Wes wasn't too pumped out the breed name (Goldendoodle), I think he is secretly really looking forward to getting a doodle. So here are the five choices...let us know what you think!!

Arun...the biggest male in the litter...medium dark hair


Barry...very curly hair...darker hair...medium size


Fargo...fairly curly hair...lighter color


Rosie...only female...darkest red hair...very curly hair


Sandey...the curliest...darker color...medium size

This seems like a fun game...I've been tagged by Mandy to carry on 8 Things. And because my favorite number is 8 (it rhymes with my name and it was always my try-out number for everything), I'm happy to participate.

8 TV Shows I Watch:
1. Chuck
2. The Office
3. The Biggest Loser
4. 30 Rock
5. Meet the Press
6. The Today Show (only in the summers and on breaks)
7. Family Guy (Wes has it on so much that I end up watching it more than I would like)
8. Lost

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. The Red Bar
2. Gordon Ramsay's Maze :)
3. Bonefish Grill
4. Cheesecake Factory
5. Common Grounds
6. Abuelo's
7. P.F. Chang's
8. Fish City

8 Things that Happened to Me Today:
1. I took 90 of my 8th graders to Fast Lane
2. I bowled 2 strikes
3. I played laser tag for the first time
4. I rode go-karts and came in first place
5. I baked cookies in the home-ec room
6. I played Apples to Apples
7. I acted as teacher/babysitter/older sister all at the same time
8. I did not sit down for the first 30 minutes of my spinning class this morning

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. Tomorrow at 3:00
2. Hanging out at home this weekend with Wes
3. Shopping for Christmas presents
4. Going to see my parents and Allen on Monday
5. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with family
6. Starting a new year
7. Our next vacation/trip
8. Having kids one of these days

8 Things I Wish For:
1. All of my students to reach their highest potential
2. More time devoted to prayer and devotion
3. A puppy (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel or Golden Retriever--preferrably)
4. A fairy to come clean my house while I'm gone and take down the decorations
5. To switch to AT&T and get an iPhone
6. A merry Christmas for all of my friends, family, and students
7. A fairy to come clean and organize my classroom while we are on break
8. More communication with my girlfriends

Yep, that was fun! However, I kept thinking of other lists that would be fun to do. Some lists were really easy, but some were a bit more difficult. I am going to tag JB and Leslie!

Last night was our 3rd Annual Walker Christmas Party, and we had a great time. Lots of good food--thanks to help from my wonderful friends--good conversation, and incredible friends. Although the temperature dropped from 65 degrees to 27 throughout the course of the party, our fire and apple cider kept us warm through the wintry weather. Here are several pictures from the party! (The one above shows the entries from our cookie decorating contest. Winner revealed below.)


The house is ready!

Hostess Kate

My wonderful friends from school.
I love my old friends from Fayetteville!
Rachel and sweet AudrieThe Burris Family

Trinity Grace folks
My greatest friend Betsy!Molly and Arden after decorating their cookies!

Michelle and me
And winner of the cookie decorating contest...#13...Dave!

When I asked mom to come help this past weekend, I knew she had a great eye...but in all my years, I hadn't ever watched her decorate. She's wonderful at it, and she just gets it done. I have now recruited her to help me decorate for Christmas every year. This should be a fun tradition.

With bagels and coffee in hand, mom arrived around 10:00 this morning to help get our house ready for Christmas. We got right to work decorating, as soon as I finished grading the last of the 100+ essays for school. We transformed the house in just a few hours, and Wes did a fantastic job on the outside hanging the fresh garland on the front door. Here are a few highlights: (Some are taken without the flash, thus the blur.)

Just so you know...I made it all the way to the gym today, through 45 minutes of cycling, the locker room shower, and then realized I forgot my makeup. Geez. Luckily, I've made a new friend this week during our early morning workouts and getting ready for work, and she let me borrow her makeup. She even uses most of the same kind I do! Whew!
And I didn't fall today. However, the kids haven't lived it down. They talked about playing charades this morning, and they wanted to imitate the teachers. They all said I would be really easy. They would just fall as they act out Mrs. Walker. I said, "What else do I do? Come on guys, I've only fallen once." They responded in agreement, "you talk." Sweet...I fall and talk too much. What a great picture they have of their English teacher.
Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!

I woke up this morning at 4:30, put on my gym clothes, brushed my teeth, got my lunch from the frig, picked up my bag, and headed out the door. About three miles into my drive to World Gym, I realized I had forgotten my hanging clothes for work. Still driving south, I tried to think of an outfit I could put together with the clothes in my car. No such luck. I had lots of tops, but no pants. I don't think that would be acceptable at school. So I turned around at exit 85 and just headed back home. Of course I would have been too late for my gym class, so I just went back to bed. Stink. I was going strong, two days in a row of morning classes at the gym. I guess I'll just pick it back up tomorrow...and this time, I'll remember my bottoms.
Next, I'm at school walking into homeroom. I went back to my desk to get an attendance sheet and while walking to the front of the room, I completely wiped out. Now, you would think that a simple fall wouldn't grab that much attention, but in a room full of 8th graders, I was received by a roar of laughter. I, of course, laughed back and became the target of all the jokes all day long. Kids would walk by me, flail their arms, and do a fake fall. Real funny. I think it will die down soon, but I was sure hesitant to tell them that I fell again alone in my room during lunch. It was a combo of slippery floor and slippery boots.
One silly day it has been.