Well, I am happy to say that I made it to Christmas Break! The last week before break was impossible. Not only were the kids a little loopy (which is normal), but we had report cards due on Friday. There was a lot going on and no time to finish anything. I worked until 9pm on Wednesday (12-17-08).

I had an OB-GYN appointment yesterday. It's the first one since before we moved, so it was good to get back in and start getting back on track with my yearly visits. I have to have an internal ultrasound done because I am not ovulating. That's kind of a problem when you're trying to get pregnant. LOL. So I have to go have that done during the first week in January. They'll hopefully be able to give the doctor more information about what's happening. I had to go in this morning and have blood drawn, so the ultrasound and the blood work should help paint a better picture.

It's very frustrating. She said that I am still young and not to worry about things yet. She said it could be insulin resistance (not good) or my thyroid, or cysts on my ovaries. Until I get the internal, they won't know for sure. I also have to go and have a mole removed because she freaked when she saw it (didn't make me feel very comfortable). So... more to come on that later.

I went to the dentist today. I haven't been since before we moved (March 2007). Surprisingly, I only have a few cavities to get filled. No root canals (whoo hoo) and she said it looked good. Must be the Sonicare that I use. ;)

Other than all that junk, things are good. I am very excited to see my mom and dad next week. They're coming on the 30th and staying through New Year's. I am excited because this is the first year (in 32 years) that I haven't spent Christmas with them. So, it'll be so nice to have them here for a bit! I think they'll really appreciate the weather because it's cold in Michigan and supposed to be in the 60s tomorrow and Thursday! :)

That's it for now... I'll write again soon. Be sure to check out the Walker Blog to see other things-- like the slide show from DC in November, the slide show from Thanksgiving and the slide show from the Burt's Bees Holiday Party last weekend.

Until next time...
>^..^<

"Yes We Can"

Okay, so I worked the polls yesterday and it wasn't as bad as I expected. I didn't get any sleep Monday night because I was so nervous about Tuesday and making a mistake or doing something wrong.

I ended up getting up at 4:45am and got into the shower. I had to get dressed and then eat breakfast, and pack any/all food that I was going to eat all day. We were told that there wouldn't be a lot of time to eat and relax, so to pack lightly. I did.

I arrived at the precinct at 5:45 and there were people already lined up outside the door. Our polls don't open until 6:30 here in NC, so they had quite some time (in the rain, I must add) outside before being allowed inside to vote.

There wasn't a lot to do inside because we had set everything up Monday night (I went after class). I was assigned to work at the Ballot Table. I was a little nervous because it's a pretty important station, but I had time to reread my manual and familiarize myself with the procedures for the table. We were told we'd be rotating throughout the day, so anyone who had a station that they didn't like, would have the chance to move. That didn't happen. I worked the Ballot Table the whole day.

I really liked being the person to give the ballot and tell people, "Thanks for voting." We had more than 640 people (648 to be exact) at my location. The longest line that anyone had was from 6:30a-7:00a and it was like 10 minutes long from arrival to departure. Not bad at all.

My mom and dad had to wait for more than an hour in Michigan to vote. I think because we had early voting here in NC, it REALLY helped with the lines and the turnout. My precinct had more than 80% of the people registered come and vote (either early or yesterday).

Anyway, I got home late (9:00p) and right away called my dad and told him about my adventures as an elections official. LOL. Then Steve and I watched television. I stayed up until 10:57 and then I couldn't stay up one minute longer. Little did I know what was about to take place at 11:00! ONLY THREE MORE MINUTES LONGER!!!

This morning I got up at 6:30 and headed downstairs to watch the news from 10:57pm (last night)-5am (this morning). I had DVR'd it anticipating that I'd be zonked before 11:00. I am glad I waited until this morning to watch because of a few reasons. A) I ended up watching from 6:30-9:00 this morning and would NOT have been able to stay awake that long last night-- yet I would have made myself stay up to watch. B) I was alone in the comfort of my home able to cry and cry and cry. :)

I can't even put words to how touched I was watching the events unfold. Pride? Disbelief? Lucky? Blessed? I don't know... but it was absolutely amazing to watch things change at 11:00. The reactions of the students at Spielman College, the crowd at Grant Park in Chicago, the people in Times Square... all just moved me to tears. Listening to a black commentator say that throughout his entire life, he NEVER thought he'd live to see a black man be elected as President. He was crying, I was crying, Jessie Jackson and Oprah were crying. It was just very moving.

I know there are a LOT of people out there angry and disappointed that "America got it wrong," with Obama being elected. Well, now you know how I have felt for the last eight years. Only to be able to say, "I knew it..."

I am excited for the changes that are happening and I am thankful to be alive and filled with so much energy and excitement over something so historic.

Enough from me... I could go on and on but I'll spare you.
>^..^<

Where does the time go??? Thankfully I received a comment from my good friend Kate saying that she needed an update... it's been two months since I last wrote! AHHHHHH!!! SORRY!!

It can be rather difficult to keep up with three blogs. Yes, I have this one that's just mine and I can use the words I and me, and then there's the Walker Blog that's the blog for me and Steve. That blog was updated last month with information about our trip to Michigan and Indiana. Then there's my teaching blog, and I try to update that one each week. AHHHH!!!

So anyway, for the last two weeks I've been doing well. I've been getting really excited for this track out- it's been much needed. I had to move classrooms this time, but it was okay. As much as I hate taking everything down and moving, it's a nice change and it's a great way to reevaluate what I need and what can come back home.

This past Friday I moved out of my room in record time. Seriously. I had about 8 kids helping and then two parents. We started around 4:05 and the kids and parents were gone by 4:45. It was amazing to think that it only took 40 minutes to take it all down and move it into Ms. Allen's room for the 3 weeks.

When I go back I'll be in the best room ever... room 600. I am excited because it's the biggest room and it's down the hall from everyone else. I can play my music and not have to worry about it being too loud for anyone!!

This track out is exciting for me because I've got some things going on! Today is my first day for my mentor training. It's class for teachers that want to become mentors to new teachers. I have class every Monday and Wedensday from 4:00-7:00 for the next 5 weeks or so. I had to buy things for class and it made me feel like I was back in college. Thankfully I am done with that!!

I have Jury Duty on October 30th. I am pretty excited to be apart of that since I've never had Jury Duty before! Not that I want to get picked and have the rest of my track out sucked up by a court case, but I think it'll be interesting to see what it's like.

Lastly, I volunteered to work the polls on Election Day. I have to attend two different trainings and then I am good to go. I actually had one scheduled for this morning that I was not aware of, so I called to see if I can do it on Saturday instead. Not sure if they'll allow it, but it is what it is.

That's about it... if you want to see what else is going on, read the Walker Blog because I try not to write the same things on both blogs.

Until next time...

>^..^<

Well... I guess I didn't realize how long it's been since I last posted on here. Sorry!!

Since the last post we've been to THREE Durham Bulls games! Yes! Three! The first one we went to was with Steve's work on Wednesday, August 13th. They had the Clorox Family Day event and we were able to go and get free hats and they had an all-you-can-eat buffet of fried chicken, hotdogs, hamburgers, baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw and soda. We weren't sure if the game was going to happen or not because of all the rain, but we went and it rained on us. The temperature dropped over the course of the day and by the time we went to the game it was in the 60s. PERFECT weather for baseball.

The second game that we went to was last Saturday (August 23d) with Stacy from work and her boyfriend Ben. Stacy is teaching 4th grade with me this year and she and her boyfriend just moved here from Michigan. She went to EMU also! It's very cool that I have that connection with her. She's super nice and really sweet. Steve and I wanted to go to the Mellow Mushroom before the game sometime and then head over, so we did with Stacy and Ben. The pizza was outstanding!! We had lousy seats for this game, but they were about all that was left. There were fireworks after the game, which was cool. Again, it rained... three for three on the Bulls games and rain.

Then, because it had rained on the August 13th Clorox Family Day event, Burt's was able to get more tickets (even though there's no rain policy) because there were a TON of unused tickets that they returned to the Bulls. They rescheduled the rain event for last night (August 30th). It was the very last regular season home game for the Bulls. And guess what? IT RAINED again!! This time we were under the roof and didn't get wet at all. There were only a few people from Burt's there. Probably because it's Labor Day weekend. Anyway, they won and it was an outstanding game. After the game we went to the lower seats and watched the fireworks. It was wonderful.

Now our focus is on getting through this week and getting ourselves and the house ready for us to travel up to Michigan on Saturday. We're going to clean today and then have tomorrow to "rest" but I don't think that's going to really happen. I have a TON of school stuff to do and tomorrow is when I'll probably get to it. We have a birthday party for our neighbor tonight. As much as I don't want to go, I'm kinda looking forward to it because all our other neighbors will be there and we don't know any of them. Should be interesting.

My good friend Amy (Maylone) Brauer had her baby at 1:15 am, August 30th. His name is Charlie Brauer. I am so excited for her!! She's going to be an amazing mother!! I don't think we'll get to see him when we're up north next week, but I can't wait to see some pictures. My other good friend Aimee is there today visiting Amy and the baby, so I hope she takes some pictures and can share them.

Enough for now... I'll write again (I hope) before we leave for Michigan. Dave and Heather and the kids are already there, and this weekend they're up at the cottage. I'll blog tomorrow about Labor Day... it always gets me sad because for 18 years of my life I ALWAYS went up north for Labor Day. I told Steve last night at the game, if someone would have said to me two years ago that I'd be spending my Labor Day weekend at a Durham Bulls game... I would have thought they were crazy.

Until next time...
>^..^<