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Sitting here at the computer with nothing really to do for a minute, so I thought I should produce something in the "journal" before the year got away from me.

Just haven't felt much like writing, I don't know why. Well, maybe I do. I spend an awful lot of time these days typing up kids' stories for their website, and changing the elementary school's site, and run out of time before I even finish those things.

I finished up my class with the "A" I wasn't particularly trying for this time. Threw away the paper the minute it was done. Glad to be free of it. One more class for this reading certificate, and then I rest. Hubby is looking for the fine print that comes with that statement...

I was no sooner done with that than it was time for Parent's Night Out. PNO was an evening a few of us teachers arranged at school so that the kids could come from 5-9 and be entertained while the parents did last minute shopping or wrapping. It didn't work out to be quite that because we could only take our own classes, and not all of the teachers agreed to participate. So, some families dropped off one child, but still had others at home. I think another year, I might say that I will take school aged brothers and sisters who want to come and aren't in a participating class. I don't know...at least I will invite former students if I have their brothers and sisters and maybe a few others who ask...

It was mass chaos for the sign in, some teachers were trying to make headbands with the kids while others signed them in and placed their sleeping bags and pillows...saved for movie time later on in the evening. The headbands were reindeer antlers, with their names on front so our hubbys knew who was who. Hubbys helped serve pizza, but after awhile, I sent Jackson to my room with some of my "handful" boys to play the computers while I helped with the younger kids. My girls filtered up there 2 by 2 so that after awhile I felt panicky that I left Jackson the Inept alone with a terrorized classroom.

Imagine my surprise when I came down the hall and looked in my fishbowl windows to see Jackson rocking in my rocker, girls sitting at desks reading and working on their xmas projects, and boys heads showing at the three computers. When I rounded the corner at the door, I couldn't hear a sound.

4 boys were building with legos on carpet, the rest working on their own. So neat! Most of the girls joined me at a table to work on some projects we had started earlier. Then we joined the rest for "centers" of crafts since caroling was canceled due to a torrential Christmas rain. They tired of crafts, however, and boys were less than interested to begin with. But, they liked decorating cookies, and they snuggled on sleeping bags 2 x 2 for the movie, so it was okay. Next year, I think I will plan on more time alone in our rooms to just hang out...they liked getting to choose their activities and being together. Next year, also, I will take the CD games to computer lab so we can all use them for awhile instead of only three people.

Got a camcorder this Christmas, but we aren't much on filming things, so we got a few clips from Christmas Day, and that's it. The camcorder is more for me at school, and for cheerleading with a little family stuff thrown in there occasionally. :)

I joined a list to talk about a couple professional books, Mosaic of Thought and Power of Retelling, and I have been spending my chat/surf time there over the holidays. Also spent an evening at my girlfriend's house with my teacher friends and their spouses - she and hubby split this fall, and she got all moved in to a nice rental house where she can have the boys' dog and a big yard. It was all cozy for Christmas and I am really happy to see her life coming together for her.

I hit a deer during hunting season, and have been grounded for the last few days while it got fixed. It has been a mixed blessing. I love just being home and not having to go ANYWHERE, but I missed my time to see Birdie, Taz, and Juffy from Old School, as well as my two sets of twins (Birdie's and my student teacher's, both living in Old Town across the street from each other for my visiting convenience, heh, heh...)

Saw Harry Potter with hubby (his first movie since Titanic!) daughter, and her boyfriend from Brazil (exchange student). The theater here has really gone downhill, ugly place with uncomfortable seats for a long movie like that. Think when we go to see Lord of the Rings we will have to drive to Old Town. We enjoyed Harry, even Hubby did, though he expected more special effects than what there really were. And daughter was disappointed in how it jumped over whole parts of the story. IF they had that much trouble fitting in the first of Rowling's books, there is no way they will be able to do justice to the sequels!

Well, that was as far as I got with my Christmas report, and I have long since forgotten what astute observation I was going to conclude the year with, so another year passes without any words of wisdom. I must still be young after all!

Thanks for reading!