October already???

Brian and I in Virginia Beach for Mitzi's wedding

Today is the last day of September and the weather is beginning to make that evident! It was 58 this morning... that is more like our low in the middle of winter back in Valodsta. :) I have spent the last month being sick. Our neighbor jokes with Brian saying, "Looks like it is time to trade Melanie in for a new model." I got a "cold" the end of August that got better and then worse. After putting off going to the doctor for a month, Brian made me go. He was tired of neither one of us being able to sleep. Those of you that know me, know I have a low immune system and once my stress tolerance level has been reached my body gives way. Sure enough I had Bronchitis, and was given a couple of antibiotics as well as over the counter medicines. A week later I was feeling much better! Then this past week I came down with a stomach virus, pretty irritating as I had to stay close to a toilet, if you get my gist.

During my first illness we made our trip to VA. And for those of you who don 't know flying while your sick is not a good idea. We stayed with our family (Johnson side) and they did a good job of taking car of me and letting me sleep when we arrived. We attended Brian's cousins wedding on the 15Th and had a great time. Mitzi and her now husband Lance were quite entertaining! Lance is a good old GA boy and while Mitzi was born and raised in VA, has definitely fit into GA quite well. She and I laughed about how "you gotta go to GA to find a good spouse".

The past month has been a busy one. I cast my High School production of "Break". To summarize it is a cast of 6 with a similar story line as the "Breakfast Club". Only the action takes place on a subway car that breaks down. My students have a lot of work to do to get ready and not a lot of time, as we open Nov 8Th. They all are hard working and dedicated and I feel they can do it. This week they are off book. In addition to daily rehearsals from 4-6pm, we are doing several fundraisers and regular officers meetings. Last Weds and Thursday I didn't get home until 9:30pm, as I had one drama meeting after the next. My set/lighting designer and I are trying to reconstruct a full size subway onto our stage. The building of it will officially begin on Saturday... so there goes my Saturdays! I love what I do, but it is very tiring. And I do wish I could see Brian more!

As I am sure you have read in his early blog, he is staying busy too. Don't read too much into the sarcasm of his words as he loves all of his classes :) That's my big nerd! That's it for now! God bless you all!
-Melanie

"3 Weeks Down, 11 To Go" or "Brian Goes Back to School"

After a month off, I am heading back to classes for the Fall semester. It's hard to beleive that Fall is here already. Leaves are changing on trees, football is on TV, and stores are putting out their christmas merchandise. Which is a surprise because stores usually wait AT LEAST till Halloween is over to ramp up for Christmas (note sarcasm). With that said...I am signed up for a full load of four classes this semester. I'll give a quick play-by-play.

1. Concise Greek: I thought that after three years in high school and 2 years in college of spanish, I had left languages behind me. HAH! Fortunatly, Greek is a rather interesting language and the school only requires one semester. So far I have learned that "School House Rocks" is still very helpful for learning grammer. You know you are getting a well-rounded education when you watch "The Tale of Mr. Morton," when the professor is talking about subjects and predicates. You should be able to find the clip on YouTube, its worth watching again.

2. Vocation of Ministry: This is one of the "general" classes that everyone at the Seminary must take in the beginning of their degree. The good thing about this one is that there are five of us who live in the same student housing apartments. According to the catalog, it is supposed to help us understand more about ministry as a career and how it is sustained throughout life.

3. Communication as Christian Rehtoric: I was worried about this class because it is a night class. We meet from 6:15 to 9pm on Wednesdays. But the Prof. who teaches it the course is very good at making class interesting and practical. I have learned first hand this semester that that speaking is one of things that gets rusty without regular use. I have not spoken in front of a group in about 2 years and afterwards, and it showed. I used a good deal of "um" "yea", and my favorite, "thats all I got." The good news is I can only get better. :)

4. Christian Ethics: There is ALOT of reading for this class, I think I will just read some and say I read it all. Haha, just kidding. Actually this class looks promising. It only meets for a few days in October, but we have reading and assignments to work on throughou the semester. Which challenges me to stay on top of the work each week. We are reading christian ethics works from ancient and contemporary sources to understand the scope of ethics in history. I think this is an often neglected area for Christian study and I look forward to jumping into the topic.

Well, thats the schedule. Aside from school, I am still working at the schools phone switchboard. Its a cake job, I can do homework, watch movies, eat dinner with Melanie and still get paid! There are not many calls at night when I work. Melanie and I are looking forward to the upcoming holdiays. We plan to decorate our apartment for halloween and we are trying to figure our a way to go trick-or-treating. Hope all is well with our readers.

PS: As many of you may have observed, we have not posted many pictures in a while. Our camara was off for a warrenty tune-up. But is back as of today so expect to see pictures again on the website. http://melaniebrian.googlepages.com

September Is Here!

OK so September is here and while I do love the month... because it contains my birthday, it is also sad knowing that fall is right around the corner! I am a summer/spring girl. Cold weather brings runny noses and lots of layers of clothes, pale skin, and no more playing outside. While May seems like so long ago, it is still hard to believe that summer has come to an end. It was a fun jam packed one, with lots of new memories to add to the book!

It has been almost a month since I started my job at Jessamine Early Learning Village. For those of you who don't know I am an instructional assistant for a pre-k class. Each day I have come home with some very humours stories, kids say & do the darndest things! From our classroom fish tank being pulled off the top shelf toppling over and busting wide open, on top of a curious student, to new names my students create for me... Mrs.Meloney, Mrs.Mellory, you name it I get it! The kids are great and even though I am not suppose to have favorites, there is one little girl that has the biggest blue eyes and wears pigtails everyday! She is too adorable and simply shrugs her cute shoulders and winks at me across the room. It makes my heart melt! Her parents most be the luckiest ones in the world!

I have also begun work with my high school students. At 3:30 I take off from the elementary school and drive across town to the high school. So far they are great kids and have a lot of excitement. We are currently working on a variety show for fundraising purposes. And I am in the midst of reading scripts for our fall production in November. It will either be a one or two act production, six weeks of rehearsals, three weekends of building a set, and a three night run. In spring I will direct a full length show, but for now I am concentrating on this months rehearsal schedule. They have not had an organized drama club in years, so I am implementing a drama club with officers, end of the year banquet, and possibly make it an official part of the National Thespian Society. There is so much to do and had I known for sure I landed the job, I would have begun my work months ago. I am very excited about the opportunity and feel blessed to have been given the position. I will keep you updated on it and post pictures as events occur.

The Wilmore Parks & Rec Dept has also asked me to direct a few theatre workshops. Specifically a week long event during fall break. They are currently looking for a place to hold the events. Until something has been secured, I will stay focused on the high school kids!

Brian went back to school today! He was very excited and I was sad that I was off at work when he left. I felt like I should have been home to take a first day of school picture. I suppose he is a little old for that. He is very excited about the semester and is doing his best to stay ahead of the class and manage his time well. He also has been picking up extra shifts at the switch board where he works. It has been a great job for him!

So I suppose that it the latest in the Johnson family! We just keep trucking along. We are both missing family, so if anyone wants to come visit give us a call!! We will be heading to VA the weekend of Sept 15 for our cousins wedding, but it will be a quick trip, as we both have work and school. We hope all our readers are doing well!! We miss and love you all!
-Love, Melanie