The holidays are right around the corner, and honestly, it just takes my breath away.....so many things coming up! I do love all of the celebrations and seeing my family and spending time with Travis and the boys, etc., etc., but there is a lot to get through in order to get to the heart-warming stuff!

Let's see......where to start? I last posted in mid-October and lots has happened at work. I had my first concert on October 15th and it went well. I was proud of my students and heard lots of nice compliments about them. I got into a little conflict with my principal re: my having to work a full day on parent-teacher conference day (Oct.21) instead of my usual 5/7 schedule. I didn't have any conferences to lead, since I don't have a homeroom, but my principal *insisted* that I was required to work the full day, per our superintendent. I thought it was strange, since I hadn't worked a full day the year before, but I made arrangements (which was NOT EASY, since our work day that day was 12:00 to 8:00 to accommodate working parents and DH had already signed up to work an in-house shift.....the boys had things to do and places to go, and I had to figure out how to make it all work!) and did what I had to do. Then we had a wonderful fall break (okay, it was a little rainy) at a rental cabin in OH. The best thing to say about our three days there is that it was completely unremarkable.....very relaxing!

Back to school after break, and we were heading towards the end of the trimester. We have an in-service day at the end of each trimester to figure grades and have meetings, etc. and once again, my principal told me I was required to work all day. This time, he got some push-back! I ended up going to the union, it was a whole big mess, and it turns out he lied to me in the first place and I did NOT have to work all day that day in October....he never even asked the superintendent. So now I get an extra day off. Woo-hoo.....like there is any time between now and Christmas I can take one! (My holiday concert is December 8th and let me tell you, that is a pretty quick turn around between concerts, once you figure that you lose five days in there for fall break, Tgiving, and that in-service day.....we have been working hard in class!)

SO things have been.....interesting at work due to the above and other things that I don't have time to type out. Like most other school systems, ours is experiencing financial difficulties and I am afraid that they may combine my job with the high school position and call it a full-time job.....I will quit if that becomes the case. I am trying to enjoy this year and not worry too much about it.

I turned 41 last week.....had a nice celebration with my mom and some time with Travis, too....always nice! I had asked for a night and a day away with him as my present (it has been over a year since we spent a night away from the kids) but when he asked my mom to help with that, she said no.....but was happy to come the next night and spend the night in order to go with us to church (Nathan was in a musical). It is what it is, I guess. She is not a hands-on grandparent, even though she complains about "never getting to see the boys". I am trying very hard to appreciate her as she is instead of wishing she were different.

We are hosting family for Thanksgiving....Travis' parents, one of his brothers (+ wife and 3 kids) as well as my mom and one of my sisters. We have divided up the food, so I think it will be fine. In the past few weeks, we have gotten our furniture, our rugs, and most recently, some decorative stuff to put on our built-in shelves. I love the way it looks *and I actually have pictures of it all* but don't have time right now to upload them, etc.

I am also hosting the faculty Christmas party for my building on December 17th....should be interesting. Now that we are a 5-8 school (as of this year) there are a lot of faculty members. I can seat probably 50 people here, if they are both upstairs and downstairs, but there are at least 60 faculty/staff members, and with spouses, the number is high enough to stress me out if I let it! So I try not to think about it.

We aren't going anywhere for the holidays, except maybe up to my mom's (an hour away) and I am fine with that. I think we will be ready for some downtime!

The kids are all doing well. Luke is playing freshman basketball and found out tonight he will be a starter due to the other "big guys" being injured. He doesn't feel ready, although he has been at every practice and all of the pre-season conditioning. The coach wanted all of them to be able to run a six minute mile by the time the season started, and Luke did it....in 5:59! Still impressive to me! He is now taller than Travis (I have a picture of that, too!), which means he is 6'3+ and is still growing. It is going to be difficult to find him clothes (pants/jeans) and shoes if he gets much bigger.

Travis is shopping for a different car, after getting stranded in his '94 Olds 88 for the last time (my call). It *only* has 207,000 miles on it. He would like to get a used Camry hybrid by the end of the year.

Well, I need to get off of the computer. Travis isn't home yet and I don't know if he will be tonight.....I need to get moving so I can go to bed!