Checking in
Now updated with pics!

I figured I should throw something up since it's been a while. I don't have much to say, really. Thanksgiving was good; the 5 day break was even better. Of course, per tradition, I got sick right at the end of it (I often get sick around holidays), so I came home from work early today. I'm feeling pretty crappy--and freakin' HUNGRY because nothing has stayed down since Saturday night.

So with Thanksgiving done, this is the time of year to look ahead to Christmas break (about 3 weeks!) and my return to the arctic tundra of Michigan. I'll be there for about 10 days--arriving around the 20th and leaving sometime before New Years'. As many of you know, Christmas with my crazy-ass family is DEFINITELY my favorite time of year, and I'm really looking forward to it, especially now. I'm not really feeling the holiday spirit this year and I'm definitely feeling "down", so seeing the family and friends back home should help.

Oh, here's a random thing that was still rather note-worthy, at least for me. One of my friends (well, a friend of a friend, but I think that maybe they could become my friend, too) has a dog--and I WASN'T ALLERGIC TO IT. Anyone who knows me knows that I can't be around any type of dog, even little ones, for more than 30 minutes or so without starting to feel pretty miserable. Well, this dog was a schnauzer (I probably jacked up the spelling of that one), which has HAIR and not fur. (It doesn't shed or anything, even--you just cut the hair every so often, like you do for people.)

Update: here are a couple of pics of mini-schnauzers, the kind this friend had, so that you can fully appreciate the cuteness:

I spent several hours around this dog (not THIS dog, but one like it) and I was totally fine. It was pretty amazing for me, actually. My friend had told me ahead of time about this magical Hair Dog and that I shouldn't have any problems around it, but I was still skeptical--hell, I'm the girl who's allergic to ELEPHANTS. (No, seriously. I rode one when I was a kid, at a circus or something when it came to town, and I was promptly taken to the ER for an asthma attack...LOL. Only me, right?) So, yeah. Maybe I COULD have a dog someday...after all, the psychic DID see a dog in my future (she was pretty definite about this particular point, actually).

Checking in

Things have been very busy lately. Last week, we had the FCATs, the big standardized test here in FL. They're a BIG deal around here, as it determines how we're doing as a school, our rating and even our funding (to a certain extent).

We're done with those now (at least middle school is), but now I have yearbook keeping me busy (it's supposed to be done at the end of the month, but I have no freakin' idea how we're going to get it finished in time since kids keep dropping out for sports, etc); the school spelling bee is next week (I'm the middle school coordinator)....oh, and I just realized that the BIG spelling bee, to be held across the state in April (the one that our top 3 finalists from next week's school bee will compete in, along with students from all over the state from different schools in our charter school "company") is the same day as the March of Dimes walk that I signed our school up for/organized a team for. Oops. (I HOPE I can get one of the other teachers to go with my middle school kids to the spelling bee, but since that probably won't happen, I'll have to contact the other walkers and say, "Okay, I know I got you all to sign up for this walk, but now I won't be there because of the spelling bee....will you still do the walk anyway?" Then I'll have to contact those who pledged me and see if their contribution can still be applied to my school's team, assuming we'll still have one, or if they would like a refund if I end up not walking.

We also have other things keeping us busy this week and next--parent conferences, report cards, etc--but these are the main things on MY plate. Oh, and not to mention getting started back up with Pure Romance and trying to get parties book so I have a head start for the summer (not to mention money for NOW).

Oh yeah, and there's still my work with Soldiers' Angels.

And seeing Dave quite a bit, mostly on weekends.

What's up with all of YOU?