A Myriad of Things

Well, it's been so long since my last post that I just don't even know where to begin. Thanksgiving, Black Friday, report cards, and a host of other things have come and gone. We spent a weekend with my family in Bend to celebrate an early Thanksgiving. That was an interesting time. I love my family and had fun with them, but sometimes one relative in particular can be a bitter pill to swallow whenever I am around this person. I love 'em with all my heart and have learned to deal, but sometimes this person pushes one two many buttons...so I temporarily pull back from them until I have had time to process everything and move past it. This is a big deal for me as I am NOT a grudgeholder, but this person can be. However, I am hopeful that time can heal this particular wound as it hurts. I don't want to say who they are, I just wanted to vent a little bit.

On a brighter note, we spent Thanksgiving with my husband's family and stuffed ourselves silly with wonderful food. As abrasive as my SIL can be, she makes a mean spinach dip that I couldn't get enough of. Then to work off the feast, I took my son Christmas shopping with me on Black Friday. He was all gung ho to hit the stores, even at the blurry hour of 4:30 in the morning. We were both tired, but terribly alert for this expedition. We started out with Kohl's big sale and thought we were the early birds. Turns out that everybody and their mom had the same idea. The parking lot was completely packed and the checkout line wrapped around the entire store! I couldn't believe how insane it was out there. I couldn't really find anything that I wanted to buy so badly that I would waste an hour or more waiting in line. So Nicky and I went to shop to Fred Meyer's and found quite a bit. We followed up several other stops, including a little break at Starbucks for hot chocolate. I had taken Kirsten to a baby shower the weekend before, so it was so nice to spend the day with Nicky. I was so proud of how well he held up during that loooooong day of shopping. We put in at least 6-7 hours and I still have more to get!

I also made it through my first trimester of teaching school and even breezed through report cards. They weren't nearly as hard as I had feared they would be. I am still learning tons and constantly tweaking my lessons for the better. It feels like turning the pages of the book, just when you think you've finished, there's more. Anyhow, I feel better going into this trimester and got a good evaluation from my principal, so woohoo on both counts.

On a completely separate note, I watched an episode of Dancing with the Stars awhile back and heard a great song that I wanted to share. It has become one of my favorites and is called "Get Ready, Set, Don't Go." It is a duet between Billy Ray Cyrus (whom I've been having strange dreams about lately) and his daughter Miley. I am amazed that this is the same person who once sang the cheesy "Achy Breaky Heart." He has come a long way since his mullet days, I'll say that much. I think Miley definitely has a bright future in showbiz too. Check out this video clip from Youtube and enjoy! The dancers do a beautiful job also!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBJcc0LcYos