Thanksgiving Week

With having an entire week off from school, I have a list of items I want to get accomplished. Numero Uno was getting the current office straightened up and moved into the second bedroom. I had most of that done by about 9 this morning. I had filing to catch up on, items to put away, and just junk to go through. The room was a disaster because I had gone on a mad hunt for the crib parts that I knew I had packed away somewhere. I had been looking for a good month when I found them accidentally as we pulled out our holiday decorations. They were definitely not where I suspected I had put them! So one crisis solved (because a new set of parts was going to run us about $100--waste of money).

We've also already decorated for Christmas. Outside we still have all our Thanksgiving decorations up since we're hosting my extended family, but inside it's Christmas everywhere! Our tree is up, our nativity is resting peacefully on the mantle, and snowmen abound. We did it Sunday night after church. I think mom and I are going to make some candy this weekend. Yum!

Elephant Stitch

As I pondered how to write this post, you have to realize how goofy it's going to sound. How amazing is it that God would give David the most perfect spouse for him...and all because of an affinity for elephants? See what I mean? You're going, "WHAT??" Back in college at MC I was part of Kissimee, a tribe whose mascot is the elephant. My husband is an avid, no rabid, no head-over-heels Alabama fan. His passion is HUGE. And what is the Crimson Tide's mascot? Why, Big Al, of course! Throughout the years, we have collected a rather large family of elephants. Which is perfect because be believe we've found the nursery bedding we really want for Mady Grace. It's called Elephant Stitch and is pink and brown--a color combination I love! I have some detail stuff for the nursery already if we go with this set---some baskets (2 smaller square ones), a picture frame with 3 separate windows that can separately flip around so you can put 6 pictures in, and I really want to get a brown shelf so we can fill it with all our elephants for our sweet baby girl. David wants to get a massive elephant to fill a corner so Mady Grace can play with it as she grows. Who would have guessed how a love of elephants would so fill our lives. Oh, and Dave says our daughter's first words need to be "ROLL TIDE!" We'll see about that!

To see the bedding we love, check it out here: http://www4.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6E.aspx?DeptID=62438&CatID=62729&GrpTyp=ENS&ItemID=153ca27&attrtype=&attrvalue=&CMID=62438%7c62644%7c62645&Fltr=&Srt=&QL=F&IND=1&CmCatId=62438626446264562729

FREEDOM!

Finally! Thanksgiving break is finally here! I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for this break. Let's see. We had Labor Day off back in September, then had September 2 off as well for Hurricane Gustav. So in order to make up for that day, we lost one of our two days in early November (10 & 11). Since the very beginning of September, we've only had 1 day off. That's way too low. The kids have been antsy and unreasonable, the teachers are short-tempered, and I have been getting mean. I'm serious. I wrote 3 kids up in 2 days, and another teacher wrote 3 up in one class period!

I'm so thankful for this break. David and I are hosting Thanksgiving for the entire Holloway clan. Are we out of our minds? Probably so! But it should be fun. And everyone's helping chip in. I love getting up and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, then eating and watching football all day long! And spending time with family is (usually) always fun!

Future Bama CHEERLEADER!!!

Well, there you have it! We are expecting Madyson Grace. Two doctors said they are 80% sure we have a baby girl on our hands. We'll find out December 10 if that's for certain but I've felt this entire time that Madyson was on her way. She played a little shy, in the breach position for a bit. But boy, oh, boy is she ever active!! She's a mover and groover and I can't wait until I can feel her do all that moving! (I may regret that statement later!) Dr. Sams counted her fingers for us. You really can't put into words seeing your baby on the ultrasound screen. David is thrilled. We're going to have a DAUGHTER!!!

Fingers Crossed

So, fingers crossed. Tuesday we go back to the dr. Hopefully, hopefully, HOPEFULLY we can find out if we're going to meet Madyson Grace or Hayden in May! The anticipation is killer!

Stiff Drink

Whew! Yesterday during second block I was sincerely wishing I wasn't pregnant so I could partake of a stiff drink. Let me explain...I have a 17 year old student in the 8th grade. That's bad enough. His mother barely speaks English (there's a fun phone call). So about 10 minutes into class, my room starts turning into an icebox. I check out the thermostat and it's set on like 62! This has happened once before with students messing with the thermostat. I begin questioning because they know they aren't supposed to touch it. No one will fess up. But this one student's name keeps coming up. I get everyone back on track with work, then when things have calmed down, I approach him. I lean over and only to him say, "_____________, did you mess with the thermostat? Just tell me yes or no and we'll move on." He wouldn't look me in the eye, but kept saying "no" with a grin on his face. I told him, "Just look me in the eye and tell me no. That's all I'm asking." I wasn't upset or frustrated; I just wanted a straight answer. Then he says, "Man, forget you!" The entire class heard it. I froze. Do I let it go or write him up? Then he tacks on, "Whatever!" So I wrote him up, told him he knew the drill, and out he started to go. Apparently, he also dropped the f-bomb on his way out. As he was about to shut the door, he stepped back in and slammed it! I was furious! I threw my pen into a corner, stepped into the hallway, and hollered for him to come back. He refused and kept walking. Teachers were coming out of their rooms to see what was going on. I was shaking. I went back in, phoned the office with this latest development, got everyone studying for their vocabulary test, then stepped back into the hallway to calm down. It took me about 20 minutes to stop shaking and seething. I was so angry!!!

Taking me back...

Tonight I went to the last home football game for the 8th grade. Wow. That's really all I can say. I found the whole experience quite humorous. It was a little chillier than I thought it might be, so I left at the end of the 3rd quarter. We were up 22-8 over Stone County with 1 minute left in the 3rd quarter, but as I was leaving I heard a great uproar. Stone had run the kick-off back for a touchdown. Uh-oh. I'll have to find how it turns out before class in the morning, so I can prove to my students I really was there (even though about 4 of my students saw me). I teach about 15 football players and they've been begging me all season to come. Tonight was my last opportunity so I left my fatigue at home and went anyway. I'm glad I did; I just really had to remember that jr. high football is not college!