Well, my blog reading sessions on Sunday afternoon are going a little faster than I'd like because there is not much new out there to read. I miss all of you! You don't know how much I love reading your blogs. It makes me feel so close to everyone.

I will admit, it did occur to me that it has been awhile since I blogged, so perhaps I should give it a try. It just seems like nothing is new here--two people in shows, band is over, and I'm just trying to survive a rather trying school year. Anyway...

Thanksgiving was wonderful. I loved having my family all home and it was so much fun. CJ even went shopping with me at 4:15 am on the day after. Of course, I was home in bed by 5:30, so I didn't sacrifice too much. When I got up at 4:15, the nicest surprise awaited me--a beeeutifully clean kitchen and living room. All the sibs were still up talking and they had cleaned it up for me and I REALLY APPRECIATED IT!! Following our usual tradition, some of us went to see "Enchanted" after Thanksgiving dinner. It was a cute little musical, but here's the ironic thing. You know Idina Menzel, the original Elfaba? She was in it --but she didn't have a singing role!!!! Go figure that out!

Moving forward, "Oliver" opened this weekend and I have seen it twice already. David is Charley somebody...I thought it was Charley Bone, but then I remembered that is a character in a series of books some of the kids are reading... I really like the music in "Oliver". This theater is not theater in the round (I would say persinium, but I don't really know how to spell it) so it seems very different to me. But I am enjoying it, and so is he.

"Meet Me in St. Louis" opened two weekends ago. Methedad is the trolley driver and a fine one he is, too. But what really steals the show is the trolley itself--which Methedad made. It is very creative, and hopefully I can post a pic of it for you to see.

Marching band is over for this year, but it was a great year. I hope they go back next year to defend their title, but it hasn't been decided yet. I thought it was odd that they didn't give the students a medal or patch for winning, but they didn't. However, never fear, we get to buy a rather expensive championship ring! The letterjackets finally came in this week, so now the poor boy has a coat to wear.

As for me, I'm just working hard at school. There is so much pressure this year for the famous (dare I say infamous) state test the students have to pass, that it is overiding everything else. For the first time, we now have to have the students make graphs of how many questions they answered correctly on each objective every time we have one of the practice tests. It takes class time from when we could actually be teaching. But at least we can do it as a class. When it was first announced, we had to have a one on one conference with every single student--I have about 120. Where was that time going to come from? Anyway, enough of my griping. I'm just so frustrated with it all...

On a positive note, I'm getting ready for Christmas. I got organized this weekend (which was a good thing because I discovered I actually bought 5 copies of one movie) so maybe I'll be ready this year. I love having my family home and I can hardly wait until they all get here. The weather turned cold, so it's finally starting to seem like winter.

Well, enough about us. Hope to read about all of you soon!