Ten more days. TEN!!!! While this time of year is bittersweet in a way, as my children pass milestones and I say good-bye to my students, some of whom I will really miss, underlying all of it is a longing for it to be OVER! I don't feel like I am a good mom OR a good teacher during the last two weeks of school. There are special things going on in my kids' classes at their school, and I can't be there for most of them. There are special things going on in the school where I work, and the kids would like me to be there for everything, but I am still only getting part-time pay. There is no way for me to please everyone (which is a fate worse than death to my way of thinking ).

My final concert of the year is this coming Monday. I will be so glad when it is over so I can stop putting the kids through the paces. They are *clearly* done. We have been having rainy and cool weather here, which is a blessing, because if it were nice out, we would really have our hands full at school.

We got our house plan today! We met with the designer last Friday, and he said he would have something for us in about a week, so I was surprised when I got the email saying they were ready. DH and I really like what he did, although we have a couple of minor tweaks to make. The house has ended up being a ~2700 sq. ft. ranch with a full *walk-out* basement. We weren't sure we were going to be able to get the walk-out, but he says we can, on one corner. We are happy about that! We will meet with him again to discuss the plan and our "tweaks" and then we will start the bid process (and will be re-introduced to reality, I'm sure ).

I had a nice Mother's Day weekend. I took Friday off (DH was off too) because we had a meeting with the builder and the designer. DH and I had lunch after that, and then he went shopping with me. Saturday, he took me out to dinner, and Sunday, we went up to my mom's house. Having the three day weekend seemed so much more relaxing than the normal two days, which are usually taken up by laundry and church!

There is a terrible cold making the rounds in our family. It started with Luke, then DH got it, and now the two little ones are coming down with it. I am determined not to get it before my concert is over, but I bet that my nose will start dripping in the car on the way home.....it has happened to me so many times that as soon I get through a big event, I get sick. Last year, I got a horrible stomach flu the last week of school.....so I will consider myself lucky if all I have to deal with is a cold.

Time for bed![/QUOTE]