September September

I went for a run this morning and saw a bunch of kids waiting for the school bus at the corner. I didn't realize all those American kids lived in my neighborhood, although I do know one from my Wednesday night dinners.
Anyway, it made me a little bit sad, that they're going to school and I'm not...but also a little bit happy that at 7:30 a.m., I'm just starting a morning run and not driving to work. That would make for some very early morning runs!

So... it's September and I have a few goals for the month:
1. RUN. I've been a slacker lately and I want/need to stop being lazy and start living up to my reputation as a crazy runner girl. I think I'll aim for 18 runs this month...which will far exceed my August running, but still give me some leeway. I know there is a running group in a neighboring town, I found their meeting place once but didn't see any runners there.

2. Read. I just picked up a package from the post office today and so I've now been reunited with 3 books I bought but didn't read in the states. If I can finish reading 3 books (not necessarily those 3) in September, I'll be happy with myself.

3. Knit. After a bit of a drought, I've been back to knitting. I think I had one project that just didn't hold my interest, so rather than work on it I found other things to do...now that project is finished and I'm ready for more! Maybe finish 3 projects in September?? They don't have to be big!

4. Cook/Bake. Since I've come back from the states, there have been fewer cook-outs around here, and I've not really been inviting people over for dinner. So, I haven't been doing much cooking or baking. Although I did make some new and delicious cookies. In September, I think I should follow SIX NEW recipes.

5. Get a job. :) David should be able to send me the magical paper that will allow me to work "in a few days"(I've been hearing that for a few weeks...but as I discovered last fall/winter, waiting for magical papers is pretty much status quo). Then I can get my name on the sub list. My friend told me that there aren't always openings for subs at the elementary school, but that the other day the high school had a sign on the door saying "WE NEED SUBS!" Need to think about this... high schoolers are big and scary and probably don't give their teachers hugs and tell them "I love you". On the other hand, they also don't (probably) tattle on each other for eating boogers or pee their pants during recess because they just didn't want to stop playing.

On second thought... I might just be soooo busy with my first 4 goals that I should push #5 to October.

I wish teachers...

There are a lot of things I wish teachers had/got/could do. For instance, get paid more, get more respect for all the work we do (last week a friend told me she wanted to be a teacher so she could leave work earlier and have more time at home...sure, she could choose to leave work earlier, but then she'd be working during that extra time at home!). I wish teachers had a longer lunch break (I'm jealous of my dad who can go to the gym, run, work-out, and shower on his lunch break...but I don't think he eats...so I'd need just a little longer.) I wish teachers didn't have to worry about metal detectors (read 19 Minutes...good book!) or buy their own construction paper.

But yesterday, at the mall (I've completely gotten over my aversion to the mall now), I saw something that made me wish a whole new thing for teachers:

I wish teachers wore scrubs!! How perfect would that be?!? Why on earth hasn't anyone thought of this before??? I don't know the exact reasons that nurses wear scrubs, but I'm guessing it has something to do with long hours, moving around a lot and quickly, and the risk of being splaterred on with a variety of materials, including body fluids...all of which are common for teachers, too!
Plus scrubs are so darn cute! While it is highly unlikely that I would ever wear a sweater with a big ol' apple & worm appliqued right in the middle of it, I probably wouldn't mind a scrub top printed with apples & little worms with glasses all over it. Pair that with a pair of super-comfy looking drawstring pants in a rainbow of colors, and I would LOVE my job! I looked at a scrubs website and found that one color is actually called "Kindergarten Blue" and another "Apple Green"...now if these things are not meant for teachers, I don't know what is!

Picture Day

When you're a teacher, there are bound to be a few things that get the grown-up you just as excited/nervous as you did when you were a kid. One of those things for me is Scholastic Book Orders. When I was in school and my teacher would pass them out, I'd already have half of the catalog circled by the time I got home, and then I would wait anxiously for my teacher to finally pass out the books once they arrived. I still do that, only this time I don't have to wait for the flyers to get passed out, AND I get to be the first to get my new books!

Another thing that makes me feel like I'm in elementary school again is school picture day. Choosing my outfit, practicing my smile, getting into position- toes on the line, turn your shoulders, lift your chin, tilt your head, and waiting for the pictures to arrive (meanwhile planning who "gets" one...only now it's more like trying to figure out who would possible want one!)
Wednesday was school picture day. I don't know if it's just "here" or if this is going on everywhere, but there's something different about picture day.
Here I am on picture day:

That wasn't this year's picture day...that was when I was in 3rd grade! Personally, I think I look pretty adorable, in my pretty dress and my fancy hairbows and smiling my big front toothless smile.
And even when my mom stopped dressing me and putting bows in my hair for picture day, I put a lot of thought into what I would wear for picture day.
So imagine my surprise when quite a few of my 2nd graders came to school on picture day in t-shirts and hooded sweatshirts. Not one of my little boy students wore a tie or a button down shirt. Only 2 or 3 of my girls wore dresses. And not even half of my kids turned in the picture order forms!
I asked them if they had practiced their smiles, and most of the kids who have missing teeth showed me closed-mouth smiles. I said, "You're not going to show your teeth?" and one girl actually said her mom told her not to show her teeth because she lost a tooth last week and her picture would look ugly! What!? Now, I'm not sure I believe that...but I'm also not quite sure I don't.
Anyway, I wore one of my favorite sweaters, smiled with my teeth showing, and I'm getting pictures (all teachers get a free pack of pictures!)... I wonder how they'll turn out!

Where is their red, white and blue??

So, I think I've mentioned before that being on base here in Okinawa is basically just like being in the states. You've got your BK & your gas by the gallon instead of the liter (litre?) and other comforts of home. The only real "you're not in Kansas (or other state) anymore" instances are:
1. driving on the "wrong" side of the road
2. being carded on the way into the commissary
3. calling the grocery store the commissary
4. standing for the National Anthem before the previews come on at the movie theater
and 5. stopping the car or standing still at 1700 while the Star Spangled Banner plays over the loud speaker.

Today I need to gripe about #5. Not the fact that the custom exists, but that so many people choose to ignore it. I will admit that I have done some extra shopping in the BX if it's nearing 5 to avoid standing outside with my bags. I will also admit that it's quite common for me to find something to busy myself with in my classroom until 5:05 rather than walking out at 4:59. I can even count on one hand the number of times that I've literally run into the house so I can be in before the anthems (Japanese and USA) begin to play. But that's usually only if I really have to go to the bathroom. So I'm not saying I'm perfectly patriotic. BUT I do think I'm patriotic enough to complain about some people who blatantly ignore the SSB at 5:00.
If it's close to 5:00 and you're in your car, windows up and radio on, you don't really hear the anthem come on. But, if it's close to 5:00, you're in your car, windows up, radio on, and you see two people standing "at attention", that's a pretty good clue that it's time for retreat. So, I pull to the side and put my blinkers on. Okay...now, if it's close to 5:00, you're in your car, windows up, radio on, you see two people standing at attention and the car in front of you has pulled to the side and put the blinkers on...do you see where this is going? How was it not clear to the THREE cars that went around me that it was, in fact, time to pause for the playing of the national anthem??
A few months ago, David had a 6:00 softball game, and because David is David, we arrived an hour early. We were walking toward the field, and standing outside at the softball field, it is very easy to hear the speakers. So we stopped and stood for the 2 minutes it takes to get through both anthems. Then David went and spoke to the "coach" that had been leading a group of about 15 kids in stretches...during the national anthem.
I don't know what's with some people around here. I would've expected this particular demographic to be more respectful of military custom and America in general. I always tell my students that saying the Pledge of Allegiance in the morning is our way of saying "thank you" to the moms, dads, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, etc. that are missing their families and maybe in danger right now. The boy who raises his hand and says, "They are fighting for us so we can believe in the things we want to believe in. Some of them might get hurt or die, so we should stand still and think of them every morning," I bet his parents stand still for 2 minutes at 5:00.

One week down...

16 to go. I'm already counting down to Christmas break...especially because I imagine I will stop working at Christmas break since we leave in January.

Here is where I go every day:




I moved classrooms this year, because I was just getting tired of being in the same room, and also partly because my classroom neighbor kept using my ideas (sometimes after I told them to her, but before I did them, so then it looked like I was using HER idea instead of the way it really went down). I'm so glad I moved rooms! My new room is clean and great. My friend Katie had the room last year, but decided to stay home with her little girl this year, so I got her room! Katie is really clean...that's why I wanted that particular room and, unlike my last 2 classrooms where I came into a room full of someone else's junk, Katie went through stuff she was not going to take with her and asked me about each item whether I wanted her to leave it for me or if she should take it to the donation table in the teacher work room. So all the junk you see in the pictures...it's mine. *eyeroll*. I'm resisting the urge to count up all of my little plastic baskets. I get them all at the 100 Yen store (Japanese dollar store!) so it seems like I'm spending nothing...but when you see them all together (and consider that there is a giant rubbermaid full of extras too) it gets a little scary. I don't think I could handle knowing just how much money I've spent on plastic.

Anyway, now that you've seen where I spend my day, I don't really want to talk about how I spend my day. Because that would mean that I'd have to think about it. I don't like thinking about school on the weekends. School is school. Same stuff, different kids. And even the kids aren't all that different from the ones last year. And that's no good!

I've gotten into a good "a load a day" laundry routine. That means that (almost) every day this week my clothes have been clean!

The only day that a kink was thrown into the plan was Tuesday. I had been planning on wearing white capris with that purple top but when I took the pants off to iron them, I noticed that the backs of the legs were dirty! Good thing they were wrinkly enough that I didn't think the wrinkles could "pass" as the kind you get from sitting in the car.
There are a few blogs that I visit from time to time where people record their "Daily Outfit". Well, I had to modify my own Daily Outfit photos, because first of all, David would not agree to take my picture each day (plus he's usually gone before I get in the shower) and my camera can't take a vertical photo on self-timer because the strap is on one end and the opening for the USB cord is on the other side and it can't stand up evenly on either end! Everybody liked my Thursday outfit-the black and white polka dots. I wore it with black bermuda shorts and people thought I was "all dressed up". That's how it is at my school...people here are really in the "island life" mentality. People wear jeans throughout the week (not me...those are from Friday only), flip-flops (and not the dressy kinds) every day, shorts that I think are too short, etc. A couple (rude) teachers commented on my shoes one day saying that I looked like I was playing dress-up in heels. I wanted to tell them that they look like they're going to Wal-mart on a Saturday afternoon in their shorts and sandals, but I'm not that rude. At least not to their faces. I'll save my rudeness for the blog.

Anyway, it's not cooling off here at all! So, it's not really practical to wear any hand-knits yet, although my air conditioning in my classroom is ice cold--too cold, but I'm afraid that if I attempt to change the setting just a little, we'll be burning up like they are in other classrooms.

I started this blog post hours ago...and now I can't remember what direction I wanted to take it. So I'm going to stop here for the day and go watch The Sound of Music.

Back to School Blues!

I'm not exactly sure how I feel about actually going back to school yet, but I do know how I feel about waking up early again! No more pajamas until 10...or 2. No more watching the Olympics all day (I'm a little bit consoled by the fact that I'd only be able to watch one more day of the Olympics even if I didn't have to go back to work).

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that school won't be too bad this year! As of right now, I have 15 students and that will be fantastic if it "sticks". I met all but 2 of them on Friday during our school's meet & greet. Of course they all (except 1 or 2) seem sweet and nice so far, but I'm not going to let that give me a false sense of security! My class last year seemed sweet on the first day too, and they were my toughest class ever---and that's saying a lot if you know anything about my 1st year teaching 3rd grade!

I'm actually excited to get the year started! I'm really prepared--my classroom is organized and I have my lesson plans ready (but flexible!) through October in all subjects and through November in a couple of others. Which is practically almost done, since I'll only be here til Dec/Jan. I even have a list of 25 sets of school clothes, so I'll never be staring at my closet for 30 minutes wondering what to wear. Unless of course, the things on the list are still in the dirty clothes. But that's why Febreeze and dryer sheets were invented.

School this year starts at 8:50 instead of 8:30, and ends at 3:00 instead of 2:30. At first glance, it seems like an unfair trade, but I now have a 40 minute lunch instead of 30! I'm so excited about that! Also, our "specials" (music, p.e., art, culture) got extended to 50 minutes instead of 45. So my instruction time is actually 5 minutes shorter than it was last year.

Blog drought

Well, it certainly has been a while since I've blogged. And, sadly (or happily), nothing truly noteworthy has happened since my last entry. But, since I'm typing, I'll fill you in on all the uninteresting details.
-Only 26 days left of school! This is cause for great celebration, because I have a very...er...challenging class this year. Challenging is teacher-code for "these kids give me a headache an entire bottle of excedrin couldn't crack" or "I'd rather eat pick up elephant poop with my bare hands, make cupcakes out of it, frost them with bird poo, and eat the cupcakes than go to work every morning" or "How on earth does one become so flippin' exasperating and disagreeable in just 7 short years of life?"
-I'm all signed up for the Gold Coast Marathon. Now to drain the bank account and buy the plane tickets/hotel.
-I'm also signed up for my second "term" of the Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap. Here's the basics: you give a present and you get a present. And the presents come in the mail. I love getting presents and I love getting mail, so it's pretty good for me. The part where you start to look at me funny comes in the details: the presents are all knitting related. And Harry Potter related. Oh, it gets pretty crazy! You get sorted into a "house" and you get your very own Potter name, and it all becomes a big obsession. You get homework and search for the Snitch during Quidditch matches.
I swear, I really am cool.
More info here
-Our friends are moving away next week. We're not. Still a little bummed about that. Next month we might know where we're going to next. We have a general idea because a list of possible selections came out and we selected. Unfortunately, our selection list was not as desirable as the one we got to select from before we found out we weren't going to be moving next month after all.
-There was a Virtual Crop at ScrapVillage this past weekend and I'm still exhausted! I wasn't as productive as normal, but I had a lot of fun!
-I'm working on 2 knitting gift projects, but I'm dying to start a project for myself.
And there you have it...

Back to the grindstone

Tomorrow I have to go back to work. Waaaaaaaahhhhh! I don't want to go. I've thoroughly enjoyed my 2 weeks off. Two weeks without hearing anyone tattle on anyone else. Two weeks without tying anyone's shoes but mine. Two weeks without having to tell someone with bright green snot running dangerously close to their mouth that it's time to get a tissue. Two weeks without hearing our class princess cry because someone took her pencil when, in fact, it is under her paper. Two weeks of not having to sharpen a pencil. Two weeks without uttering the words "mark your tally chart" (our class behavior plan). Two weeks of not having to wake up before 9, change out of my pajamas before...well...bedtime, pack my lunch, drive to school, or shower (although I did shower almost every day over the past 2 weeks...well, at least 10 times anyway).
Don't get me wrong (I know it's hard not to) I don't absolutely hate my job. There are some perks... the daily hugs and love notes from my students (first graders are definitely not afraid to say "I love you"!), the excitement on a kid's face when he reads a "really hard" word, working for a fun and easygoing group of administrators, the occasional parent who tells you "thank you" or "my child hated school last year and this year he's totally into it...I give you a lot of credit". But with the class I have this year, I really enjoyed/needed/cherished/... that fabulous little perk we call "Winter Break" and I hate to see it go.

All that being said, I'm going to take a minute to reflect on the title of this post... my friend Samantha shared with me a quote that our friend Rhonda shared with her... "Life is a grindstone...whether it wears you down or polishes you up depends on what you're made of."

Dear Santa (again)

Santa, I need you to clear up a little something for me, please. You see, my students seem to be under the impression that your naughty vs. nice list has been finalized and that the sleigh is packed and ready to go. You wouldn't do that to a first grade teacher when school is still in session, would you Santa?
"The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" doesn't actually start until Friday at 2:30. Until then, it's one of the most migraine-inducing times of the year.

Moving on up!

I know my readers don't know what Ravelry is, but I've moved up almost 6,000 places in line (in 2 weeks) and only 14,101 to go! I might be "in" by Halloween!
I'm trying to hold off on buying any new knitting books or yarns until I'm "in" because Ravelry will really help me pair yarns with projects. I'm so excited to get in and learn more about what you can do with Ravelry... so far all I know is what I've heard from those who are already in and from what I've seen on the video tour (which I've watched at least 3 times!)
Since last week, I've knitted one wacky-looking baby bootie (I needed to borrow my friend's baby to model it just to make sure it looked more like a booty on an actual baby...it does) and a few rows on a doll poncho. I think a doll poncho may be one of the popular projects for knitting club. It's easy, it's basic, and I *think* some 8-13 year old girls still play with dolls! Even if it doesn't work out at knitting club, I want to knit a few up to contribute to my aunt's doll clothes "trunk show". As an added bonus, I can say I'm knitting a "sample" for knitting club and count my time knitting towards my required 20-39 hours for my club stipend!
Since I mentioned knitting club, I should explain that that's the after-school club I'm going to be sponsoring this year instead of scrapbooking club. I had my knitting projects with me a few times at SB club last year and the girls were fascinated and started pestering me about a knitting club. So I asked my administrator and, though he had a lot of doubts ("I don't know... do you think there's many kids that want to knit?") he let me write it up and give it a shot...with the stipulation that if I didn't get at least 10 kids to join, I'd have to change it to SB club. Well, my club was the first to fill up...23 kids and more have been wait-listed! I heard my admin tell our new assistant principal, "the kids really like her...she could have a sitting club and kids would join it!"

Kids & Lizards...can't decide which is grosser.

Yesterday there was a baby gecko cowering in the corner of the girls bathroom in my classroom. There was much crawling on the floor and speculation as to whether or not the thing was dead.
Finally a little girl's hand emerged from the bathroom, holding the gecko. She pronounced him dead, and I (stupidly) told her to put him in the garbage can and wash her hands.
About an hour later, I was reading with a small group when I hear a small hullabaloo...one of the boys in the class took the dead gecko from the garbage can and was playing with it. By the time I figured out who the culprit was, he had put the gecko in his pocket! A little bit wiser by this time, I told him to put the gecko outside (our classroom door opens up right to the outdoors, no enclosed hallways at our school) and watched him do it. When he came back in, I heard him explaining adamantly to the others that the gecko was, in fact, alive...he wasn't moving, but his eyes were open.
Shortly thereafter, we left for specials. When I walked back, I looked in the grass where I swear I saw him put the gecko...and it was gone! I find myself wondering if that little sneaky boy picked it back up and put it in his pocket when I wasn't looking (maybe he feigned tying his shoe or something?) or...if it really was alive! Do geckos play possum? I know they stand very still when they sense they're being watched, but I wonder if it could really be so...lifeless...while being handled by a bunch of 6 year olds!

TGIS!

I missed out on my first "TGIF" opportunity last night. (Why did I miss it? Oh, probably because I was asleep by 8:26 last night... a late night for me as I've been out by 8 every other night this week!) The first week of school is over! I can barely believe I made it.
It's funny how I forget each year what exactly the students will be like in August. When I sent away my 1st graders at the end of last year, they were "all grown up"... they could all tie their shoes, they could all sit for long periods of time, they could all READ, they all knew how to raise their hands and wait to be called on, how to put a paper into a folder, how to choose a new pencil if theirs was broken, how to tell time instead of asking me "what time is lunch? what time is it now?"... those were not the same students who had shown up last August, and the students who showed up on Monday can't do any of the above either. They are kindergarten babies! One girl even sucks her thumb!!
I asked a colleague of mine--she taught multi-age with me at the end of last year and took the second grade spot after I decided to go with first grade--how hard she thought our principal would laugh if I went in his office and told him I changed my mind... I want 2nd grade after all!
Oh well... it's just 'til January. By January, the students will finally be first graders instead of kindergarteners. They'll know that they need a spoon to eat applesauce at lunch time and how to turn on the bathroom light. And after that... it's just 'til June!

The very best thing about being a teacher...

Check out this card from one of my 1st graders! She brought it to me on Monday, and was a little bit upset that my birthday wasn't until Friday. I told her I was excited that it was my first birthday card of the whole year! She kept on reminding me all week too that she had given me the first birthday card of the whole year!
But isn't this the sweetest thing? I almost cried when she gave it to me.
It says, "Dear Ms. Slone happy BirthDay. I hope your Day is spishell (special! gotta love inventive spelling!) Yay BirthDay girl. Yay yay BirthDay Day.
Awww!

Excitement is contagious!

Remember just a few days ago when I posted about how much I was dreading going back to school? Well, listen to this...
I went to a multi-age meeting with all of the other m-a teachers on the island just before winter break. And they told me all about these fabulous units that they do, so I decided I'd plan something similar, not knowing how it would work. So...my class is going on an imaginary field trip across the U.S. We're starting at the Statue of Liberty and ending up at Disneyland! They are totally excited! And that puts me in such a good mood!
You should have heard them as we pulled out notecards from the "luck bucket". Each card had the name of a state (they each got to choose 3 states that they'd like to visit and then I pulled out 10...so if 5 kids wanted to go to Wisconsin, Wisconsin went into the raffle 5 times) and the states that we pulled out of the bucket were the states that we are going to visit. Little did they know that I rigged the bucket so we would get to states in different parts of the U.S.! Anyway, they were screaming and buzzing and just so excited each time they pulled out a card, "Pack your bags, we're going to New Mexico!", "Watch out, Kansas, here we come!", etc. They're so excited...one girl who I absolutely love suggested that on the last day we're "in" each state, we dress up in clothes that we would really wear if we were there.
It's just so much fun... I can't believe I'm so excited about school and about this project!

A little un-sssssettling

So I found out yesterday that there was a very poisonous Habu snake in one of the classrooms at school! Oh my goodness!! I never want to go back to that place again! I guess the snake was found over winter break, thankfully in one of the classrooms on the opposite side of the school than I am on. I don't know what's more disssssturbing...the fact that there was a deadly snake in a classroom, or the fact that there was no formal announcement made that we should be aware and not reach into any dark corners without looking first! Oh that just gives me the heebie-jeebies!

Kicking and Screaming

Yep, that'll be me, as I'm being dragged back to work today. Two weeks off just isn't enough. I need to find a job that has a 3 week winter break, a 2 week spring break and a 4 month summer break. Plus holidays and paid vacation.

Really though, I am a little bit glad to be getting back to school. I didn't do half of the things I had planned on doing over break and I don't think another week would change that. I was in total relax mode. Hung out with Oprah, watched Full House re-runs, went out to lunch, got a pedicure... So now that I'll be back to work, I'll have time to do those other things I needed to do but couldn't because I was just too relaxed.
Also, you don't get nearly as many hugs everyday when you are NOT surrounded by a bunch of 6 and 7 year olds.
But I have nothing to wear...

All caught up! December 22 and 23

It felt like I hadn't posted a pic in a long time, but catching up didn't take that much time at all!
December 22- Since Survivor is over, we had to change up our typical "Chili's and Survivor" Friday routine. So we had Mike's Italian Garden and watched a movie. David picked these movies 'for me' because one is about a teacher and the other is something that I'll need to see in order to chat with my students about it! We watched How to Eat Fried Worms and it was really cute! I haven't read the book.

December 23-It's not even 3 pm and I'm done with my photo for the day AND my post about it??? What the heck is going on? (It could possibly have something to do with the fact that I realllly don't feel like cleaning my scrap room. Or the living room. Or the bedroom.) Well, last night David asked me if I'd make "Christmas dinner" for his troop since he has nowhere else to go. I said I'd make something, but not to be advertising it as a traditional Christmas dinner. There will be no turkey. There will be no ham. There will be no mashed potatoes. There might be some cranberry sauce since I think I have an extra can and I love that stuff! Last year we had Rachael Ray's Christmas Pasta on Christmas Eve. It made a lot, so this year we'll have it on Christmas day when the guy comes over. I also invited my newest set of neighbors to come down since they said they didn't have anything planned.

Catching Up- December 20 & 21

December 20- Our last school day! I got several gifts from my students- mostly candles and candle-related gifts. Like this candle holder from Bailey. I love it because it reminds me of these tiny old fashioned Christmas houses that my Grandma puts out at Christmas. They have glitter on the roofs, and so do the houses painted on this candle holder. I think I saw the same kind of houses in a Martha Stewart or similar style of magazine recently. I have always loved them! So this gift makes me happy!

December 21- Our house guest, Black Cat, in one of his two spots. If he's not sitting in the dining room on top of the bookshelf, then he's curled up in the very back of my closet, and I always think he is a black shirt that fell off its hanger!

Catching Up- December 18/19

December 18- Binding off! Finally finished the blanket! After working constantly on it for 2 weeks, I let it sit untouched for almost as long. But finally... a whole blanket made by me!

December 19- More crafting...we made these cute little fingerprint snowman ornaments in class as Christmas gifts for parents. A poem is attached, it says, "These aren't just little snowmen, as anyone can see. I made them with my hand, which is a part of me. Each year when you trim the tree, you'll look back and recall/Christmas of 2006 when my hand was just this small."

December 8-Roll out the Barrell

Tonight was the faculty Christmas party at school. Everyone said it was "at the Barrell", but it never actually dawned on me that we'd actually be eating inside a huge, giant barrell! It was a really cool building. The food was good, but the portions were too small. I did hear, though, that if you go and order off of the menu (rather than family-style) you'll be satisfied with the food. It did kind of weird me out to have fish staring at me as I used the rest room though. Anyway, the party was fun, even though we did not win the money tree. David even got chosen to reach in and draw the winner. People just love him. I don't get it :) He did pick one of my good school friends, Stacy. She's having a baby in April so if it had to be somebody besides me, I'm glad it was her!
Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. Which is really unfortunate because the building was so cool, and looked beautiful decorated for Christmas. I did, however, take a picture of the pile accumulating on my bed as I decided what to wear. My December 9 picture could have been all of these (and more) clothes thrown onto the floor because I left them all on David's side of the bed. I fell asleep on my own side of the bed before I put the clothes away. Anyway, I didn't end up wearing any of the things thrown onto the bed.