Another Elf

Harrison decided it would be fun to elf himself. Click here to enjoy(all four elves are of him)!

Bring on the Rain

Many of you may have heard that the south has been experiencing a severe drought...many boats are dry docked because the lakes are so low & there was concern they could be out of water by March. Well...it has rained both days I've been here. Dad thanked me this morning as we were getting a beautiful rain shower. :-) But...I can't complain because mom & I were out this afternoon, and I didn't have to wear a coat. :-) I'll take warmer temps with some rain.

The Elves

I'm sure you've probably seen the "Elf Yourself" greeting from someone, but I just couldn't resist putting my "creation" on for you all to enjoy. I've gotten several of these from friends so I decided to do my own.

If you are interested in seeing Abigail & Harrison (along with Nana & Papa - AKA Mom & Dad...believe me when I tell you that they are a great addition), click here! Enjoy! :-)

Uh Oh...Day #3! AHHH!

As I've said in previous posts, it's always nice to have an unexpected day off, but today we are using our third calamity day. The problem? We only get five for the entire year, and we still have a lot of the year left! I really don't want make-up days!

Shoveling in a Winter Wonderland

This was how I spent over an hour this morning...shoveling. We woke up & were definitely in a Winter Wonderland. Everything was cancelled this morning, and it sounds like there will probably be a delay (maybe even a cancellation) tomorrow morning because the wind is really blowing so drifting is a huge problem.

Here's a picture of the blowing snow while I was shoveling.



And here's a picture of my sidewalks (the part where I'd started) by the time I finished - oven an hour later.

Christmas Lights

There is a house in Oregon that everyone refers to as the "House on Holly" or the "Holly House" and everyone knows what you are talking about. Wonder why? Look below:





This year I found out it belongs to one of my students. He thought I knew it was his house, but this was new news to me. We talked a little about it and here are two things I found very interesting:

1. They used over 100,000 lights this year!

2. Every year his dad cuts the lights to take them down and buys new lights for the next year! Can you imagine?

Some think it's a bit much, but I've always enjoyed it and look forward to it every year.

No Headache!

Today was the first day I haven't had a headache since Tuesday. What a relief & praise! WooHoo - I felt so good!

Thanks to everyone who called & left comments. I really appreciate the thoughts & prayers!

Under the Weather

Monday night I started to have an itchy nose, but I thought it may have been my allergies acting up. However, Tuesday morning I woke up with a full blown head cold & felt miserable. I went in to school for the morning so I could change the date of my winter program (we've missed two days of school due to the weather so we've missed valuable rehearsal time plus I was sick & in no mood) and write sub plans for the afternoon. When I got home, I had lunch & then slept for over 4 hours.

I ended up taking Wednesday off as well because I still didn't feel like myself (spent most of yesterday in bed as well). Today I did go to school, but I've been fighting off a headache most of the day (although the cold, wet weather isn't helping). I'm hoping I'm on the mend & feel even better tomorrow.

Another Day Off

Well...we had an ice storm that hit yesterday so today we have day #2 of only 5 calamity days. This is not looking good! But...it's always enjoyable to have an unexpected day off.

My only concern is that I'm supposed to have my winter program on Thursday and the kids are no where close to being ready. I'm hoping that maybe we can postpone the program!?!

A Teaching Perk

Ahhh...an unexpected day off! You gotta love it if you're a teacher. This is definitely a perk that I enjoy. :-) Sorry to all of you who had to go about your normal day while I stayed in my pj's, cleaned my house a bit, & spent the afternoon with Jen & Eva. :-)

Music to my Ears...or Something Like That

Last night I went to the elementary & middle school band concert because my fifth graders were so excited & kept asking me to go. They did a very nice job, but as I sat there listening to those "beautiful" notes coming out of the fifth & sixth grade instruments, it made me very thankful that I teach general music rather than band. :-)

My very first year of teaching was out in Pennsylvania, and I taught instrumental music. Last night's concert brought back some flashbacks. :-)

Levy Update

We received an e-mail last week letting us know that the Board of Education agreed to put the levy back on the ballot in March. They decided to keep the millage the same this time rather than raising it. Since we are continuing to lose money (and will have lost more since it didn't pass in November), there will be another round of cuts totalling $1,000,000, and if it doesn't pass in March, there will be extreme cuts made.

I don't know what this means for me personally (in regards to my job) but continue to rest in the fact that God has it under control.

My Trip to Indy

Saturday morning I woke up and headed for Indianapolis to visit two friends from SoloCon. Cindy & Debbie are so much fun to be with, and we always have a great time when we're together. Since I hadn't seen them since June, it was especially nice to spend the time together, but it went by so quickly!

Spamalot

Traci, Jeromy and I have season tickets to the Stranahan Theater in Toledo. This is the second year we've gotten tickets, and we really enjoy it. We've been able to see some amazing shows (we've also seen a couple we could have done without). :-)

Friday night's show was one of the amazing ones, and it was absolutely hysterical! We went to see Monty Python's Spamalot which is a musical based on the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail (I was introduced to this movie in college - a friend of mine, Steve Paver, loved it and got me hooked). It was absolutely hilarious - due to the references to the movie and also to the spoofs about other musicals (or even musicals in general).

Traci found a site where you can watch clips from the musical. If you are familiar with the movie (and it might help if you like it as well), you'll definitely want to check these out! Some of my favorites are the top left (it's based on the "I'm not dead yet!" part) and the third one in the bottom row (it's from the song called "The Song That Goes Like This" - making fun of that "typical" mushy song in all musicals).