the annie blog

Our holiday open house went well. I’m tired now. We had a lot of fun, and had a lot of good food. I’m ready for bed and it’s so early yet. I think I’ll finish up the last bit of cleaning and snuggle under the covers and read. If I fall asleep, I fall asleep. I’m on vacation so it doesn’ t matter.

It’s getting so cold anymore. All I want to do is walk around with a big blankie wrapped around me. Our kitty is continually snuggled under covers. She works her way under the covers and quilts on the bed – even when the bed is made! I don’t know how she does it.

I need to run on campus tomorrow even though I said I was gonna stay away a month, but oh well. I need to look up some GPAs on some of my students. I am curious if anyone lost their academic standings due to grades. There a few kids I’m worried about. Then I think we’ll go to lunch and come home and relax. I need to make dinner tomorrow, so I better start thinking of something. I love having time to actually prepare something without feeling so overwhelmed when I come home from work. Actually, I think I’ll grab a few cookbooks and head to bed. I want to make something different, but yummy and easy. If we have all the ingredients it would be even better…. any suggestions??

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We got snow. We’re probably at about 6 inches or so. It’s still lightly coming down. They did a fabulous job on the roads. The side streets look great! I feel like letting the city know what a great job they did. Sometimes they drag their feet when they have to do the side streets.

We have our work Christmas party tonight. Sometimes it gets a little crazy. We’ll see… I’m not in the mood to party right now, maybe I’ll feel like it later on

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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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