the annie blog

My Friday Five
1. Do you enjoy the cold weather and snow for the holidays?
Yes, I do. I don’t like ice, but snow is fine.

2. What is your ideal holiday celebration? How, where, with whom would you celebrate to make things perfect?
Probably just me and Markie and the kitty. Alone. A fire. Our house. Soft music. Lots of candles.

3. Do you do have any holiday traditions?
We always begin Christmas on Thanksgiving. We always wear santa hats while decorating the house. Other than that, every year is different.

4. Do you do anything to help the needy?
Tons. We adopted a family in the projects. We bought everyone lots of fun stuff and lots of needed stuff. I chose two people randomly off of amazon and got things off their wish lists – anonymously. I tell them I’m not a stalker, I just want to spread cheer and “pay-it-forward”

5. What one gift would you like for yourself?
Good health for all – really. With Mark’s surgery this year, we opened our eyes to a lot of things.

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I’m a little stressed because we’re supposed to get a ton of snow dumped on us – like 10 inches. That’s a ton for us. I have things to do this weekend and guess I’m going to have to scoot out of here after lunch and get my stuff done. Snow is supposed to start coming around 4ish. We’re supposed to have a friend over tonight to watch movies, but if it’s getting too bad, we’ll have him over another night. Plus, we’re having out little Christmas open house thingy on Sunday. I have to get some last minute groceries and alcohol stuff too. I was kind of planning on getting most of that done on Saturday – oh well.

So, I’m packing my car with everything I could possibly need from the campus over our Christmas break. I really don’t even want to set foot on this place till school starts. I relish the month away. It keeps me from burning out. I think most teachers understand how important breaks are. Plus having a new crop of kids every semester/year makes it exciting too. It’s NEVER the same ole, same ole when you’re a teacher. OH – here’s a great excuse – I had a student come to my husband (he’s also a prof) and tell him that the reason she hasn’t been to class or turned in any assignments for over a month is because her floppy disk wasn’t working?!??!?! WTF?? What does that mean? Why can’t you come to class? Don’t you know anyone with a disk?? We give them away in the computer labs! Wonders never cease!

Ok, I guess I’ll be ok. I’m stressed, but pleased to be leaving this place for awhile. Christmas break officially starts tonight for us!

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I’m done wrapping my presents!

I also got the name of my Secret Santa! I’m excited! I already bought the stuff and am sending it on its merry little way. I can’t wait. How fun is this?!?!

I am probably going to sit down and read for the rest of the night. I am not tired at all, so I imagine it’ll be a late night for me. That’s ok, I get to sleep in a little because my first final’s not till 10.

Ok, off I go!

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Ah, I only have one final to give today and it will be a piece of cake for me. It’ll take a few hours for them to finish. While they’re busy with that I can work ahead on stuff for next semester. So, other than that I can sit in my office and work ahead.

We got our first snowfall last night. Only an inch, BUT we then got a sheet of freezing rain over it. Everything is crunchy and slippery. The roads were nothing but ice. I don’t like that. They did a pretty good job cleaning the campus, but there are still some scary spots.

I need to wrap gifts tonight. Hopefully I can get a huge amount done. It’ll be nice to be in with the snow on the ground and the wind blowing. I love the winter time!

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Well, this is it. The last week. Finals are this week. So there’s a different vibe on campus. I’m a little relaxed right now, things are starting to pour in, but I’ll keep on top of it. I have fairly easy finals and not as much grading as I do some semesters. Plus, I end up getting much grading done while I’m in a final.

I need to get caught up on some housework. Being out of town this weekend didn’t help much. I still have wrapping to do. Perhaps I can get some of that started tonight. Hmmmm, sounds like a plan. I think that’s what I’ll do. I have to clean the kitchen and the bathrooms, then I’ll plunk down and wrap stuff. Won’t hubby be surprised! The kitty will be unhappy though. She likes sleeping under the tree. So I’ll leave her a little space so she can snuggle under the tree in between presents. I usually don’t wrap her stuff, her stuff is mostly stocking stuffers. She usually gets her big gifts on her birthday. What a spoiled little baby!

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I was supposed to be at the theatre with Mark tonight, but I decided to stay home. I am trying to get some things done before we head out tomorrow morning. We’re going to Wichita to see a play. I’m looking forward to getting away for a little bit. I have some shopping I want to do, plus I just want to look around at the mall a little bit. So, I basically need to pack an overnight bag and get some stuff ready for the car trip. I am planning on bringing the laptop so I can get some stuff done on the way up.

I am sipping on lots of smooth chocolate coffee. I’m enjoying that. I will probably NEVER get to sleep tonight, but that’s ok. I’m sure I’ll survive.

Just think! One more week of work!!! Then off for a month. I can’t wait!

Oh, we ordered carpet skates for ourselves, and they came today! They are a blast. We damn near broke our neck the first time, but now we’ve got the hang of it. I also bought some of the pucks you can buy with it. We are hockey machines! I have the red, and Mark has the silver. It’s crazy in our house! Fun, but crazy!

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I was supposed to sit at home and do work for school last night – but I didn’t. I crafted all night long. I’m ok though. I was really having a good time, and I like the feeling I get when I’m being creative. I am very pleased with my work – I started on another scarf. I think I’ll take a little break then, I need to focus on my work and reading. Don’t want to become too obsessive.

I have fairly early days from here on out. I should be able to leave by 2:30 every day, if not earlier till the 12th. Then I don’t have to worry about work for a month, so that’s good. I’ve been in jeans all this week. That should probably tell you what it’s like in my head right now – mentally, I’m already on vacation. That’s ok though. We don’t have a dress code, so no one cares. Hell, everyone else is in jeans all the time, I usually only wear them once or twice or week. Mark wears them each and every day. He’s never worn anything but jeans and tshirts or sweatshirts to work. Ahh, that college life… I’d really like to wear what the students wear – flannel jammie bottoms and big ole slippers to class. That would be comfy!

I have some grading to do and some emails to respond to. I have to be at the theatre tonight, so I won’t be getting anything done tonight. I need to crank it all out now.

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I kept hitting the snooze button again. I slept a little later than I usually do, but that’s ok. I must’ve been sleepy.

Tonight I am working on my online course for the next semester. It’s the first one I’ve taught, so I’m learning by trial and error. Right now, mostly error. Oh well, I’ll get it by the time classes start in January. I have to do some paperwork on it tonight, then I should be able to chill. I finished a scarf last night, and am starting another one tonight. I should have it done by the weekend, I hope. Oh well. I’m feeling kind of lazy, so this will be short.

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I’ve been enjoying my life right now – especially since things are kind of winding down around work. It’s such a good feeling. It’s been cold at night, so I love going home after work and reading or crafting with a good cup of tea. I always craft more during the winter months for some reason. I have been working on my knitting loom. I want to learn to really knit, but my loom makes some really cool things too. So, I have stockpiled much yarn and am busy working away. In fact, I think I’m going to take some orders from friends. Using that awesome chenille yarn makes cozy little sweaters and lots of people have asked if I could make them one. I may do that for gifts, or I could have a thing going on the side….hm…Have to think about that.

My family – ugh – they hardly EVER come visit. I don’t know why – I think I’m starting to get a complex about the whole thing. It’s been over 2 years since I’ve had any of my family come see us. We only live three hours apart – HELLO! So, we decided that we have been lugging up gifts and what-not up there for years, it’s time someone come see us. Well, it kind of worked and it kind of didn’t. They are coming down on the 26th – better than nothing. They’ll leave on the 27th. One day. We have a huge house – there’s plenty of room – everyone will have their own bed and bath for crying out loud. I just don’t understand it. Plus they are going to celebrate Christmas and exchange gifts up there without us. What is that about? Ok, I’m going off here a little, but it’s my blog and I can do what I want. I just get sad. I don’t quite understand it. We invite and invite, and they make up lame excuses. It just seems like they think we should go up there ALL the time – EVERY holiday. Perhaps if we lived many, many hours away, but three! )Oh well – I need to stop talking about this – I am thankful for very much, and I am thankful for my family. They’re just frustrating sometimes.

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Tomorrow is back to work. I am ready. Only because we only have two more weeks of work, then we’re off for a month. Can’t beat that.

We got so much accomplished this break – Christmas stuff is up, our “to-do” list is gone. We even had plenty of time to relax and watch movies. These next few weeks are busy with work Christmas parties. We have them early since the campus closes in two weeks we try and get them all out of the way as soon as possible. I’m not ready clothing-wise. I think I need to do some shopping one night this week – without Mark, it’s easier that way. I just need to find a few pieces then I can mix and match my Christmas stuff. I do have a holiday sweater I may break out for some of these festivities.

I got tons of reading done this break too. I am still behind on my work reading, but I’ll get that taken care of this week. Not too worried. I guess I’m not really behind, it’s just that I’m not ahead as much as I’d like to be. We discovered a darling little bookstore the other day. I just wanted to sit there and do school work all day long.

I think I’m going to end my night with reading and sipping something that won’t keep me awake. I need to get to bed early – I’ve been used to getting up late so tomorrow will kick my butt. Oh, I’m enrolling in a quilting class at the college. I’m looking forward to it. I think I’m going to start looking at stuff so I have an idea of what I want to make exactly. It’s good to be creative!

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