I can't believe that 2003 is coming to an end. I will probably be fast asleep by the time midnight rolls around. This past year started out pretty painful but turned into the best year ever.

There was a Teacher of the Year honor, trip to San Antonio, two moves, one very large moving van, 38 fifth graders, 25 fourth graders, one ex-husband, an engagement ring, a wedding, and a honeymoon to Tennessee.

I can only hope that 2004 will be half as great as this past year. I look forward to it. My mother will be 60 this year. I will be 30. Eek.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Christmas was a flurry of activity around here. I can't believe that it is already over. Tommy's family came over to our house on Christmas Eve for dinner and presents. Then, we went to my sister's house on Christmas. Of course, I had the nieces call me and wake me up before they went downstairs for Santa presents. So I was over there at 6:30 in the morning. It is hard to break that habit since I have been at their house the last three years on Christmas when visiting from Texas.

I was thrilled when I opened my presents and among them I found the coveted 5 quart KitchenAid mixer. I received so many nice things this Christmas but I feel really blessed I was able to spend it with my family, both sets.

I have a bazillion candy canes left over from our school Christmas party. I have been in search of recipes involving candy canes because I don't want to waste them! So for Christmas Eve, we are having a Chocolate Peppermint Pie. Sounds pretty intimidating to make but I think I can handle it.

So we made snowmen, hats, and candy cane reindeer. The kids really enjoyed all the crafty activities. I wish we had more time to do crafts. However, standardized testing beckons so that is where we are headed after Christmas.

My laptop is having keyboard surgery or I would post pictures. I am too frustrated right now to try and hook my camera up to the big computer. Big computer was infected with Trojan Gema virus. That even sounds gross, huh? Spent two hours of my life trying to get system back to normal. I think we are okay for now. What good is Norton, I ask you?

Finished most of my Christmas shopping yesterday. I tried to make it to the mall as soon as it opened. I thought my strategy had worked until people started coming out of the woodwork at about 9:10 AM. Still have some more shopping to do but nothing I can't pick up at Wal-Mart or local places. No mall for me...at least until the day after Christmas.

After an all too short nap, I decided to head out to the mall. Being stepped upon, shoved by bulging shopping bags, and waiting in ungodly lines, I have decided that I don't like people too much. Yes, I would say that it was not a good idea to be at the mall tonight.

I did manage to buy some presents so the trip wasn't a total bust.

Today is my sister's birthday. I know she is going to like her present since she was with me when I bought it. Happy 38th, seester.

Busy.

Planning the class' Winter Celebration party for next week.
Preparing materials so we can make ornaments every day next week.
Writing Christmas cards.


So far, the plan is felt snowmen on Monday, candy cane reindeer on Tuesday, yarn hats on Wednesday. I will have to post a picture of the little yarn hats. My room mother brought one in and I fell in love with it. It is just made from yard and a piece of cardboard tube but it is adorable.

The local paper will publish our letters to Santa, or my class' letters to Santa, rather. Some of them are quite hilarious. They will publish them "as is" so they are more authentic. The teacher in me wants to correct them and hand them back out for corrections to be made but I stifle this urge.

One child wrote, "Can you bring my sister some make-up so she can dress up like a hoochie mama?"
Another..."Please bring my mom a cat, even though they make her sneeze."

I just love being a teacher.

The Christmas tree is up! Not everything is out and decorated...most of it is still boxed. I think this will do for this year. Tommy's family is coming over on Christmas Eve and then it's my sister's house on Christmas.

On a sad note, my laptop keyboard is giving me fits. The a, z, q, and tab keys will not work. I called up the little guy at Best Buy and he said to bring it in. I can't imagine it all of a sudden not working but who knows. I just want it fixed. For once, the extended warranty really is going to pay off.

Bake-A-Thon

Today, we had a bake-a-thon at my sister's house. After nine hours of baking, we decided that next year we need to start a little earlier or pick less treats to make. There were three of us and each person picked three recipes to include, plus we added two extras as the day progressed. We must have been breathing too much flour or something...

Today's treats included:
Chocolate Walnut Cookies (almost the cosistency and texture of biscotti)
Homemade Heath Bars
Rum Balls
Meringue Cookies
Christmas Wreaths (cornflakes, green food coloring, red hots)
Hershey Kiss cookies
Reese's Peanut Butter cookies
Mint cookies
Fudge
White Chocolate dipped pretzel rods with sprinkles
White Chocolate dipped Ritz Bits with peanut butter

(Even though it wasn't technically white chocolate, it just sounds better to call it that.)