The Smorgasbord

So last weekend I gave a major thanks for a long, long weekend. It was jam packed with things to do, but they were an excellent time and just what I needed to keep me moving this late in the semester. Rex and I headed out of the city Wednesday afternoon, hitting the rainy, wet pavement about the same time other travelers decided to go too. Not a huge fan of the traffic, but we made it home in one piece. Wednesday afternoon and evening involved baking preparations, cards, and cocktails with friends and family. It was wonderful. : ) Thursday went by with a flash, complete with lots of yummy desserts and a mini-baby shower for my cousin who is expecting her first at the end of January. I got the chance to chat with my Great Aunt Mary, who was my Grandma's sister-in-law, for awhile about teaching. Back in the day she taught pretty much every grade k-6 and was even a principal for quite some time. It was great getting a chance to catch up with her and pick her brain about education. We don't see them very often, maybe once a year, so it was an excellent experience. Friday morning we slept in, and it was AMAZING! There weren't really any 'must' have deals and the extra sleep was a bonus. Headed over to the Rainey household for a long afternoon and evening of hanging out and dice playing with the family there. Later on we got the chance to meet up with some old friends for giggles and wine, Rachel was in town and Kate too. Which equaled a fun nite of goofing off and stories. Laughter really is a great thing. Saturday was baby shower number two of the weekend which was a ton of fun also. Headed down to Jackson to celebrate with family for Kyle and Melissa's upcoming baby. Just so excited for everyone and all these new little ones to hang out with. : ) Saturday evening was a pretty chill evening in, more cards and sleep. Then it was Sunday already and time to head back to the "real" world again. We began to pack up the mass of stuff that it takes to leave town for five days, loaded it into the car, crated Astro...went to crate Izzie...and she was M.I.A. We looked for her for an hour with no luck, she hid realllllly good this time. So I called the parents to inform them that they were now in the possession of a brand new, disappearing cat and we headed out. Izzie is now on her "cat vacation" at my parent's house.

Now secretly, even though I enjoyed the weekend, I was SO antsy, because I knew my student teaching placement would be here when we got back. I've been nervous wondering what school district I would end up in, but more importantly what age level. Sure enough, when we grabbed the mail, there it was sitting right on top. So happy, I got placed in a third grade classroom in Rockford Public Schools. It's quite a bit more of a drive, but it will be fun to get to know another group of students. Last nite we traveled to Frederick Meijer Gardens to hear my current students sing their Holiday concert. It was great, and they had so many funny questions for me today. "Who was that man you were with? Is he your brother? Your boyfriend?" and so on. They crack me up.

So, needless to say, an excellent weekend. Things are wrapping up with school for Rex and me, only about a week and a half more until break. Whoooooo hoo!