1. Alex starts basketball in January, officially. They didn't have enough pre-k kids to do a full league but he will be getting an 8-week clinic wherein he will do drills and learn new skills. He's very excited. Oh, he also lost two teeth and got one fully in, and another is coming through.
2. Emma now speaks in half-realized sentences. Her single words are still mumbly and usually consist of only the first syllable, but by god, she can say, "OH NO" and "OH WOW!" with the best of them. She did so tonight when she saw our (fake) new Christmas tree with its fiber-optic light show. She also says "I love you" and (in context, sometimes its hard to make out) she says shoes, sock, purse, dog, arf, bye-bye, night-night, all done, down, up, bath, potty, toilet paper (it really sounds like tah pay), brush, diaper, bear, bug, butterfly, cat, meow, hair, eye, nose, book, no, and probably more that I can't remember right now. Which is totally awesome, don't get me wrong, but Scott and I had a conversation last night that went something like this:
Scott: I'm getting worried about Emma.
Me: Why?
Scott: She doesn't say words. She says sounds.
Me: She has at least 20 words in her vocabulary, that's above average for her age, she'll be fine.
Scott: Yeah, but I want full sentences.
Me: Scott, just because our son was a freak and spoke full sentences when he came out of the womb doesn't mean that all our children will be that way.
Scott: I can't accept that my daughter is not a freak.
3. I'm on break! On the first Monday of break I sent the kids to daycare so I could get all of our presents wrapped. Scott also took the day off and helped me out. Today I got the kids fed and out the door, did the last of my Christmas shopping, got our Christmas tree, exercised, got all the wrapping done, got the house picked up, took a nap (wow, that felt good), cooked dinner, took the kids to visit my mom, came home and sat for over an hour reading funny stuff on the web. I remember there once was a time that I read actual BOOKS, but I find that tha intarwebs are funnier. Sometimes.
4. Before everyone has a brain spasm about that last item (You're a teacher! How dare you say you don't read books!) I must mention that I have discovered a new series of books. All young adult fiction, since my fifth graders are the ones from whom I get the most recommendations of books lately. I started reading The Mysterious Benedict Society series while I had a student teacher and loved it. It's about four brilliant kids who use their different intelligences to solve problems and save the world. There are three books in the series and I'm on book two, and it's getting better as I go. I'm also about to start reading the Percy Jackson series, if only because I want to before the movie comes out. Oh, and I rediscovered the Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House series, and since my aunt (Hi Linda!) bought me the set almost 20 years ago and I read them over and over so often that most of them fell apart, I will be looking to purchase a new set to give to my kids. No child should be without them.
5. I got a new camera! As soon as Scott and I sit down to watch the DVD on how to use the damn thing, I'll post new pics. I used it at school to create a thank you gift for my student teacher (I took pics of all my kids and had them each write a letter to her, then put them all in a photo album). I'm loving it so far, although I've only scratched the surface on what it can do. Scott also bought himself a new Droid and a 24 inch monitor to add to the 22 inch monitor he already had (some unfathomable thing that programmers must have, I guess - dual monitors for 46 inches of screen space).
6. I didn't get my dream job. I applied for the Highly Capable itinerant position that was available in our district and kicked ass in the interview. Did everything right, answered every question, I even knew one of the women on the interview committee and had an "in." Apparently, however, I just wasn't the right "fit." I imagine that they had someone else in mind when they posted the job - standard BS, we have to post it to offer it to everyone, blah blah blah. I am, however, keeping in touch with the teaching and learning supervisor and I have a feeling she might be my in the next time the job opens up. I WILL teach gifted kids someday. Even if I have to leave the district. I could go on, but dooce's rule of "Don't write about your job on your website" keeps flashing in my head, so I think I'll save the NCLB/"Summit" rant for the next get-together.
7. I'm still working on losing weight. I hit 80 pounds a couple of weeks ago, then took a break and enjoyed cake and pizza and a few other treats (that I hadn't touched in 8 months) and now I have to work off a few pounds I had lost. But dammit, I enjoyed that, and I don't regret any of it. :-) I also realized that I have no set time that I have to lose the weight I'm working off. I still have 50 pounds to lose, but it is so much easier to get back into my good habits now that I've established them. It is harder to exercise every day what with the weather, my foot (plantar fasciitis) and my back, but I imagine once the weather gets better I'll have even more motivation. So I'm taking it easy this winter and watching my patterns, and making sure my pants still fit. My cholesterol was 111 and my blood pressure was 110/65, so whatever I've been doing has been working.
8. Aaaaaand...I'm done. For now. More later!
