Well, I've hit a bit of a lull again. I don't think it will last long as this spring is starting to fill up with activities. I'm pretty sure I can count on life getting back to the usual crazy pace here in a couple of weeks. I'll keep ya posted. For now, all I have to say is:

1. Eight degrees is cold. Very cold.
2. 200 yards from my car to my building at work is not very far. Unless it's 8 degrees. Then, it's like the Boston marathon.
3. It's snowing here....again.
4. I ran errands in said snow today, deciding that I must eventually learn to drive in this mess. I did pretty well. I don't like the ice, but if it's just snow, I can get around.
5. Is it spring yet?

Brrr.........

You might have noticed the addition of the baby ticker. I thought it was a cute way of keeping track of progress. So far, so good. I feel great, no morning sickness yet, no real problems.

Yesterday was my first day to really teach and it went well. I have nice students again this time and I think it's going to be a good semester. I wasn't happy with the first few weeks of my American history II class in the fall, so I'm trying to change some things up to make it better. Once I get to the 20th century, I'm mostly happy with what I did last time and I won't have to tweak much. Here's hoping this will be a good spring.

Have a great day!

What a nice weekend we had. Saturday, we went with Sean and Tracie to lunch at an Irish pub and then to see The Last King of Scotland. What an amazing movie. Not the least bit uplifting... seriously, a very heavy film....but the story was compelling and Forest Whittaker WAS Idi Amin. Wow. When we left the theater, it was just starting the snow storm that lasted for another 12 hours. By Sunday morning we had at least 4 inches. The roads are clear now, but there's still plenty of snow all over the place.

Sunday afternoon we braved the snowy roads to go downtown to catch the Kansas City Symphony perform (the tickets were my b-day present). They were also very good. The did Beethoven's 5th, which was the big draw, and was lovely. The surprise hit of the performance was a violin concerto by Jean Sibelius, a Finnish composer. They had this Hungarian soloist come in for this piece and blew us all away. He was amazing. The place went absolutely bonkers (well, as wild and nuts as you can get at a symphony concert!) and he came out for an encore which was met with even wilder applause. Very fun. Then, weird thing. Every time I go to a concert like this I think back to my band days and yesterday I was thinking about my old band director and wondering how he was doing. When we got home, there was a message on the machine from my parents, who are in New York for the week, saying they'd just run into him there! So eerie!

I'm spending the bulk of today doing boring things like paying bills and doing laundry. Tomorrow is the first day I do real stuff with my classes, so I'm trying to get ready.

So.... last Friday's post was a little prophetic. Most of you already know the big news that I'm pregnant! I found out on Saturday. Hmmmm. Due date is 18 September and I'm in my 6th week. So far, I feel great, just a little tired. Okay, make that completely wiped. It started Wednesday night - I can't remember the last time I felt so unreasonably exhausted. I made it through my first day of the semester yesterday, but I was dead on my feet by noon. It didn't help that the nail holding the heel to the sole of my shoe decided to pop up and poke me in the heel out of nowhere. I had to leave in between classes and go buy new shoes so I could continue walking! Thank goodness I found a sale! So, yeah, I passed out before 9:30 last night and slept until almost 8 this morning! Geez...I knew I was supposed to be tired, but I never expected it to be this bad..... But, I'm so excited to have a baby on the way, I almost don't care. Almost.

It has been snowing for the last several hours, but it's starting to end and is mostly just flurries now. The sun is peeping through the clouds, shining on the snowflakes making them look like pieces of glitter falling from the sky. It's really beautiful...

So.... I really have nothing new to say, but I don't like leaving my blog stale for so long. I finally started scrapbooking again and it feels wonderful to have a creative outlet. Classes start Thursday of next week, so I'm spending a lot of time putting those together. I think this semester will go much more smoothly than the last.

It's snowing outside right now. We're supposed to have a big winter storm come through this weekend, so that should be interesting.

I'm really excited Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy are back from reruns.

But seriously, folks, that's all I've got. Maybe something super-exciting will happen next week.

The Army school where Brad teaches invites several international officers to participate in its program each year. These are some of the most promising mid-rank officers in their countries (~35 years old) and they come to foster a spirit of cultural understanding and perspective. It's kinda cool. Brad and I signed up to sponsor two officers coming in to start in February. Both arrived this week.

On Wednesday, we met our Rwandan guy at the airport and he seems very interesting. He has scars on his head and is missing half an index finger - obtained in the 1994 conflict. You know, I felt very cultured after watching "Hotel Rwanda", but standing before this man with visible scarring from a very real conflict made me feel rather silly for feeling like I knew about it because I watched a movie. He's very open about it and volunteered the information himself. I'm looking forward to getting to know him better.

On Friday, we met our Lithuanian guy and he's great, too. We had a little more time to spend with him and so I got to learn a lot about Lithuania (I didn't have far to go since I knew next to nothing about it before then). He's very friendly and open. He, also, fought in a major conflict - he was a very young man when the Soviet Union fell and so participated in the revolution to overthrow the Russians in his country. He doesn't have physical scars, but you can tell the emotional scars run deep - he's not a big fan of the Russians.

All in all, a very educational week. They're living on post, but we'll be getting together with them a few times while they're here. I'm anxious to learn as much as I can from these guys.

Yesterday was my 31st birthday and I've had this blog for a year! Time sure flies - how the hell did I get this old?

Brad took me out last night for dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant. I've been dying to try that cuisine for a while now. It was okay. Not bad, but I'm not sure I'll rush back to have it again. But I'm so glad I got to try it - it's really different. After that, we hit this art house theater downtown Kansas City to see History Boys. Great movie - also great to have a theater that plays all those movies that don't come to the huge cineplexes. Brad got me tickets to see the Kansas City Symphony later this month, which is awesome! They're doing Beethoven's 5th. Can't wait!

Happy 2007!!!! We had a semi-quiet New Years Eve with our new friends, Tracie and Sean. Then, while Brad watched football I worked on my craft room. (although, I did manage to catch Boise State kick the Sooners back to Oklahoma in one of the best college football games, ever!) I haven't done much with the room since we moved in. Stitch peed on the carpet (!!!!!) and so I've kept the room closed off until I had time to deal with it. I got the smell mostly gone and my room all set up. I even hung pictures on the wall. I'm totally set to sit down and scrapbook for the first time since probably May. Can't wait!

Tracie and I dragged our hubbies to Casino Royale this afternoon. I rarely see a movie twice in the theater, but this was worth it. Tracie hadn't seen it yet and she's a huge Daniel Craig fan. So yeah, we drooled and Brad and Sean made fun of us. They liked the movie, too, so I felt vindicated since they both went in grudgingly. It's fun having some friends to do stuff with - what a nice change.

Sorry it's been so long since my last posting. I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I did. Brad and I spent a couple of days in Allen just hanging with the fam, but we had to turn around and come right back so Brad could go to work on the 27th. Just FYI, we'd be returning home from England today.... So glad I haven't been thinking about it....

I've been spending this week unpacking all our cool Christmas toys and catching after-Christmas sales. I got out the other day to see Casino Royale - wow! I can take or leave James Bond movies but this one was fab! And Daniel Craig...... yum.

Oh, and the big news is I have pneumonia. Yeah, no joke. I feel absolutely fine, but I have the nastiest cough you can imagine. I went to a doc-in-the-box in Allen and after a chest x-ray they determined I'm sick. I'm on meds, but they're not helping a lot with the cough. I saw a doctor here in town and they're keeping an eye on me. It's so bizzare. I had pneumonia back in college and I was really really sick, but this is nothing like it. Life is going on, I'm just coughing a lot. I'll let you know if anything happens with this.

I'm done! I turned in my grades last night and am thrilled that my vacation has started. I'm also done with my Christmas shopping and am busy wrapping presents today. I was supposed to arrive in London today, but alas.... However, I took part of the money we would have spent on the trip and bought another elliptical machine for myself. I really liked the one I had in Lexington until it broke. This one is much sturdier. I put it together last night and it looks so nice. I haven't had a chance to try it out for a full workout yet, but I'm really excited about it.

Nothing else really. We leave for Allen on Thursday, so I'm wrapping gifts, and doing laundry and housework. Not too interesting, but it's a great feeling to be done with work for now. Have a merry Christmas everybody!

What a busy weekend! Brad's office Christmas party was Friday night and it was fun to hang out with our new friends (and eat lots!). Yesterday was icky because I literally graded all day. Not kidding. From about 8am to about 11pm. Stopping for meals, of course. I'm almost done. Grades are due tomorrow evening and I have some finishing touches to place and then I'm through with this semester!

Brad took me to see The Queen (which was fabulous, by the way), but it's not playing at any of the theaters near us. So, we finally had an excuse to go check out this commerce-mecca called The Plaza downtown KC. It's really cool. We saw the movie and walked around and looked at all the shops. So much cool stuff! We had dinner at a fun Irish pub and tried something we'd never heard of - boxties. Basically, it's meat wrapped in a potato pancake, topped with sauce. Yummy! I love pub grub. It was a fun excursion and was our first downtown. We've just not taken the time yet. The other cool thing is the Plaza lights - it's a big deal. Every year they have a big ceremony for when they turn them on for the first time. So pretty!

My NEW car just rolled over to 100,000 miles yesterday on my way home from work! How is that possible??!!! I just bought it...... in August of 1999. Right before I started grad school. Before I even met my husband. Oh. Man, it feels like my new car - I can't believe it's that old. Thank goodness it still feels that way - I'm glad it's not an old clunker. I've not had any problems with it. The only time it's seen the inside of a mechanic's garage is for routine checks. I love my Honda Civic! It's not very kid-friendly, though, (being a 2 door sporty little thing) so it will have to be replaced eventually. But, shhhh, don't tell it that!

Whew! What a weekend! Brad and I had our first houseguests since my parents came back in October. The house looks so nice and I made a really yummy dinner (If I do say so myself). It was wonderful to just chill in this house we picked out mainly for it's entertaining-friendly layout. So fun!

Then, the big scary deal was this morning, I acted as a cantor at my church for the first time ever. This new church's choir isn't as active as St. Pat's in Lexington so a cantor runs the whole service, doing all the music at the front. My new director is fabulous and he sweet-talked me into trying the cantor bit. It even pays a little money! So, anywho, it was incredibly nerve-wracking and I made a very small flub with one of the words, but overall it went pretty well. I might even do it again. :)

We just got back from the movies - my very awesome hubby took me to see The Holiday. We were a bit worried it would be rubbing salt in the wounds, watching a movie about an American traveling to England for Christmas.... But it was a cute movie and I really enjoyed it.

So - got some bad news.... We're not going to the UK for Christmas. Due to a mixup in Brad's office about leave-time, we had to cancel the whole thing. I was really bummed when I found out, but it'll be okay. It's not like we'll never have the chance to go again. It was hard going back and cancelling all the reservations and stuff, but it's finally done. Since we cancelled with plenty of notice, we're not losing a lot of money, which is great. I just wish I could get back all the hours I spent planning the damned trip in the first place! At least we can plan a nice Christmas back in Allen - especially since Mary Beth just moved back. Should be nice.

On an upside, I've finally caved and gotten on Facebook. A friend of mine joined and invited me on, so I signed up just so I could chat with her. But, once my info was out there, I've been found by my old students in Lexington. The last 48 hours have been interesting as they discover me on there and I find them. All my A-team Academic Team girls are in contact now (they're in college now) as well as a few other students - I expect I'll find more soon. I even found a student I taught 5 years ago back in College Station! How fun!

Just to set the record straight - I'm not a moron. I was embarassed about my little ice capade yesterday morning, but it turned out to not be my bad driving-on-ice skills. When Brad got home from work, he walked over to get the car and drive it home and he got stuck, too! We can get it to go forward on very flat roads, but we got it stuck in a different part of the neighboorhood (again with the hills). Frustrating as hell, but I'm glad it wasn't me that was the problem. The sun is out today and so hopefully the ice will start melting. Yuck! Yay - welcome to Kansas!

In other very exciting news, you may note the link off to the left for My Korean Adventure. I finally got the Korea blog up and running. It's not that spectacular, now that I've been building the suspense for 4 months, but I'm just so glad it's done and I can FINALLY check it off my to-do lists every week. Enjoy!

Happy week after Thanksgiving! Whew! What a crazy week! We went to Boston to see Brad's family. We go almost every year and it's always so much fun. I also got to see my friend, Kelly, from RCHS who now lives there. Good times. Brad's aunt and uncle just built a new home and it is gorgeous! I got to play with my nieces, who are a trip. Alyvia and I are buddies - this kid loves me. It's really cute. She followed me everywhere - I think she spent the whole week in my lap!

Back at it this week, but the big news is the winter storm that came through. Ohmigosh! Yuck! It started sleeting yesterday afternoon and into last night. When I woke up this morning EVERY school in the KC metro area was closed except mine. Seriously. So I tried to not be a wimp and decided to go to work - next week is the last week of class and I didn' t want us to get behind. I backed out of the driveway really slowly and slowly drove down the street - which, by the way, isn't patchy ice like I thought - it's a solid sheet. The first left turn off my street left me spinning out (at 2mph) into the curb in front of someone's house. Not a good sign. So... I decided to make a left on the next street and just come home. Well, the street has a bit of an incline and I couldn't get the car to move - lots of engine noise - almost no acceleration. AND, there were cars parked on both sides of the street! I managed to mostly pull over (not all the way to the curb) in front of someone's house. The guy was in his garage so I told him for the safety of everyone I was leaving the car there. He laughed and said it was fine. I gathered my stuff and slipped and slid all the way home. I'm not interested in wrecking the car or hurting myself or someone else so I'm staying home. I've had very happy emails all day from students who didn't want to brave the ice, but didn't want to miss class. It was kinda fun to have a snow day. It's supposed to snow this evening on top of the ice (which hasn't melted yet, btw), which should be interesting. At least I'm always home on Fridays. :)

Here's one for the ages. I accidentally ruined my last pair of decent jeans this weekend (long story) and I'm leaving for Boston tomorrow - no time to go to the mall. So, I thought I'd take a chance and try to find a cheap pair at Wal-Mart that would get me through this week. Since I don't normally buy jeans at Wal-Mart, I picked out about 10 pair in 3 different sizes (women reading this - you understand why) . The heavens opened and the angels sang when the very first pair I put on fit like a glove! Perfect fit! That NEVER happens to me. Usually the best I get is a pair that fits "mostly". The very first pair. That never happens either. Needless to say, I handed the rest of the jeans back to the clerk and moved on to buy kitty food. Five minutes. 18 dollars. Hell, yeah. I'm savoring it because I'm sure it'll never happen again. I wonder if this is what it feels like to be a size 0... Oh, well - I'm having fajitas for dinner and I'm lovin' it!

So, I'm putting together the itinerary for our U.K. trip today. I can't believe we leave in 4 weeks!!!!! We're going to Stratford-Upon-Avon because we both love Shakespeare and it's one of the major sites that I haven't seen yet. However, we were planning to skip a performance by the Royal Shakespeare Company in the interest of time. I know they're the best, but living 20 miles from the Shenandoah Shakespeare players for nearly 4 years has not left us with a want of good Shakespeare. But, I just did a quick check on what is playing and they're doing The Merry Wives of Windsor, starring Judi Dench!!!!!! So, yeah, I just bought tickets.... I love her work - she's such a phenomenal actress - I can't believe we're going to see her on the stage! Yippeee!

More details about the trip coming soon.

I totally stole this idea from my friend, Susan, because I think it's great. I apologize for not updating this at all in about a month. Life is good, but rather unexciting. Those of you who know me well, understand I usually live life at warp-speed, juggling about a dozen things at once. Right now is a bit of a lull in the action - there's really nothing too interesting to write about. But, to give everyone a quick update, I'll mention a handful of minor happenings.

1. My house was invaded by ladybugs! A couple weeks ago, we were outside in the yard and noticed our house was covered in them! Dozens got into the house and have been taunting the kitties. Most have died and of all bugs to invade the house, I can deal with these. I don't mind picking them up and shooing them outside. Any other non-cute bug would have me shrieking!

2. Halloween was really fun now that we live in a neighborhood, but I didn't really have time to really decorate. I carved a couple of pumpkins, and put out a coupld of things, but that was about it. I'll do better next year, now that I know I can expect a lot of kids. My pumpkins are below

3. Vacation plans are coming along nicely. I have an itinerary almost plotted out - just trying to figure out the last couple of things. We leave in 5 weeks, though, so it's getting exciting!

4. My Korea blog is almost done. I have one more entry to finish and then I just need to work on some formatting issues. Coming soon!

5. Mary Beth got a job at the corporate office again and is moving back to Dallas this week! Her store in KY just celebrated their 1 year anniversary yesterday and she's glad she got to stay for that. Now she'll be a communications specialist to run lines of communication between all the stores in the country. Sounds like a cool job and it means she gets to go "home".

6. That's about it. I spend my days writing lectures and grading - no time for much else. Only a couple more weeks left, though. Next semester should be a little easier...

That's it here. I'll try to get on here more often just to say hi anyway.