Pass the Pigs, Africa, and a Pay raise

Last night we went over to Gary and Natalie's with Matt and Cheri and decided to play some games. Cheri was insistant that we play Pass the Pigs so Gary got it out and I was instantly taken back to my childhood. In Pass the Pigs you roll 2 rubber pigs like dice and depending on the way the pigs land you get a certain number of points. I know it sounds weird but really it is fun; you can click on the title of this post and play an online version. Brandon and I used to play this when we were younger just to pass the time. It's funny how over time things become more fun.

So I'm now 3 weeks away from my departure for S. Africa. We had another meeting on Thursday and I'm getting even more excited. Each member of our group is supposed to be in charge of one aspect of the Bible camp and guess what part I'm doing? The music! It's very ironic since I have no music ability whatsoever but they liked that I knew all the kid songs and music. I guess working at camp for 2 summers really helped. :) It's going to be good though and I'm really excited about teaching these kids about Jesus. J and I got some practice on Friday when we went with our church into a low income neighborhood and helped with a backyard Bible camp. It was a real stretch for me because I was totally out of my comfort zone having to solict people to come and then trying to motivate them to participate. It was a great opportunity for me to get a feel of what it is going to be like in Africa. It also helped me to see what worked and what didn't. I'm so ready to go!

This week the NC Legislative approved the 2006-2007 budget which included a 8% raise for NC teachers! The budget is now on Gov. Easley's desk for his approval and knowing that he's a big advocate of education I'm certain it will pass. 8% is huge! that's like and extra $2400 a year! Sadly, with the raise, we will still not be comparable to the national average. They wonder why NC is so low in education it's b/c of the work conditions we endure for the low cost we get paid. Personally, the amount of money is not problem, it's the amount of stuff teachers have to put up with, from discipline to the mountains of paperwork. I heard lately that the new teacher coming in only averages 2-5 years in the profession. I can totally understand why and if things keep going the way they are, I might be part of that stat.

Ok enough of my soap box...have a great weekend!