I have found the downside to teaching...germs! My class could be a lab for the CDC. My luck, I got this raspy, gross cough over the weekend. What a lovely way to spend my time off. UGH! I was supposed to sew with Joanna and Synnove today, but decided not to share the wealth at this particular time. Call me selfish. I want all of the good germs just for me. The real bummer is the fact that I absolutely hate writing sub plans so I will limp my hacking self to school tomorrow. I would feel worse about that if I hadn't been coughed on and sneezed on every day for the last two months. At least I cover my mouth and wash my hands.

Every time I take my cough medicine I think of Lucille Ball and her famous Vitameatavegamin episode. This is pretty much what I look like every six hours. That stuff is nasty, but it sure works.

Friday funnies and other goodies

So, there I was teaching about ratio and rate when I heard a little voice singing "super freak, she's super freaky" just over my shoulder. There was my autistic student singing his heart out instead of taking his math notes. If you know anything about the tone and inflection of an autistic child then you know that this was more of a yelling than a singing. Ok then. Nothing better than some comic relief in the last 30 minutes of a Friday.

Next. Sound out this word - sexion. I had to, so you should too. That was on the paper I read this morning. I love my job.

Praises, praises everywhere. My year is now officially half way over. I have six weeks left until we have another 4-week break. I can't believe how amazing this year has been so far. My principal has been so wonderful and he makes my job easy and fun. I am learning a ton from all of the teachers and even more from my kiddos. They make this job worth all of the political crap. Who needs drugs? This is the best high ever!

Many of you know that Tim has been working toward a job as a boom operator since July. We made it through many days of depression and sadness because flying is the only thing he has ever really wanted to do in the Air Force. Once they started allowing Lasik, he was all over this. The last couple of months have been awful, one disappointment after another. I have been praying and re-praying and changing my prayers for months. I have consoled and promised that all would work out for the best. I put my faith way up in the air and promised that God would not fail him. I know that really is not my place, but I did it anyway, mostly because I believed it. Well, Tuesday we found out that all of the paperwork was finally approved and Tim will be living his dream very soon. His cheeks are rosy and he smiles constantly. Goodness gracious, great balls of fire! Kath, you thought he looked good in his uniform, you should see him in a flight suit. Now, we just wait to find out when he leaves for a three-month flight training in Oklahoma. Sounds fun, don't you think? I am so thrilled to see him excited about his job and I can't wait to see him with his wings.

Well, that's enough gibberish for now.

What? Where?

So, Paul Bunyan is now a licensed driver. Or, the way I like to put it, I am now the proud owner of my very own errand boy. Talk about mixed emotions. I love being able to send him out to run the errands that I am to lazy to do, but he's alone in the car for Pete's sake! What? The look on his face after he passed his driving test was priceless. He was crying, I was crying...I'm sure all the lovely the people at the SB DMV thought we were nuts. At least we had all of our teeth while we were hugging, jumping, and shouting.

Today was the first day back from break and, of course, it snowed this weekend. I am fortunate being a dainty girl and all, I didn't have to shovel one flake of snow. My boys took care of all of the blowing and shoveling. I don't know how we ever lived without our snow blower. Not that I have to use it very often, but when I do it's wonderful.

Should I be scared by Kathie's You Tube find? Just for her and Liann, MSN says that today is "National Pass Gas Day." Really? They have a day for that? Ok then!

Well, today is a first. We actually, for the first time EVER, purchased firewood. Um, ok. Tim and Bob got a dead wood permit and went out in search of firewood, but found that the forest had been picked clean. Actually, the lumber places on the mountain had cut down all of the burned trees as well as picking up all of the dead wood. So, now we have to pay for our wood. That seems a little obnoxious to me. I have always seen that as one of the benefits of living in the woods. Maybe they just weren't looking in the right place? Oh well. We ordered a cord of eucalyptus and we will see how long that lasts this winter. It will kill me if I have to buy wood again this season considering we paid more for the wood than I would have paid for a ticket to go see Kath.

I have successfully put off lesson planning and my BTSA assignments over the vacation. I suppose it will be a long night on Sunday. You would think that I would get started early considering I had two weeks, but alas, old habits die hard. Ok, once you reach a certain age, old habits are pretty much set in stone and will limp along as usual.

One of the big pluses of vacation is the amount of family time we've had lately. Paul Bunyan and I have had some great mom and son time the last couple of days. I'm even venturing into the world of Guitar Hero III. What I have managed to prove is that I am not coordinated in the slightest. Pretty much, I suck! Paul Bunyan just laughs and tells me that with practice I will improve. I'm thinking that I've had enough of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and I'm ok being a lame video game player. Tim, on the other hand, is working feverishly to get me interested in World of Warcraft. Why? Why would I want to play this game? He keeps trying to work the angle of "family time". Seriously? He has plenty of friends to play the game so he is just going to have to be happy with me making dinner and doing the dishes. Maybe I should convince him that laundry and toilet cleaning can also be used as "family time". We do have three bathrooms, one for each of us :)

Found friends

Found friends are fun. Just as I was feeling sad that so many of my friends are so far away, I do a little mid-morning blog reading and find long lost friends. What a treat. It is great fun to find out how our old school chums turned out after so many years.

Wow, another year is beginning. It always feels so hopeful.

Our holiday went off without a hitch. We hosted appx 30 friends and family and we had a wonderful time. We even had Kathie and Tony stop by and that was great fun. I really miss having her around...and she does dishes.

The kiddos in class did fine and were genuinely excited by the gift bags Santa (that's me) left on their desks on the last day of class. God was definitely with me that day and I could see him working wonders with all of those kids, not to mention me and my heart. We had a party, the last time I do that but that's a story for another day, and we had tons of great homemade food. The kids ate like champs and sat patiently while I tried in vain to get my speakers to work so I could show "Polar Express". No luck, but all was not lost because I had read it to them the day before and the applauded at the end. I also read them "The Night Before Christmas" and I was surprised how many of them had never heard the story. They applauded at the end of that one too and I found myself getting a little choked up while reading. Many of the kiddos just stared, wide-eyed while I read and they loved both stories. Never underestimate the value of reading to kids. Especially if you can begin a tradition. So, without the movie the kids just sat and talked to each other. Those are conversations that are always fun to overhear. I wonder how many X-Boxes and Wiis were actually under the Christmas trees. I'll find out on Monday. I actually miss my kiddos and am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. We have eight weeks left before we are off for the month of March. I know it will fly by.

No resolutions this year. No real reason for the decision, just decided I didn't want to do it this year. I actually feel very comfortable about this so no worries there.

Happy New Year!