Happenings

Hi All!
What a busy and crazy few weeks we have had! I am sure you are all just anxious as ever to hear about it!
Dave is having a wonderful time with the 5th graders. He enjoys having kids who can understand humor and sarcasm a bit more then the 3rd graders of the past two years. He is slowly finding out, though, that 5th grade is an important year. Preparing the kids for middle school, the TAKS testing, and being the older kids in the school brings much responsibility for the teachers. He comes home every day telling me about this meeting he was pulled into and that committee they have put him on. Lots of extra responsibility, but a good change none the less. He has several students from his first year teaching 3rd grade, and this year he is team teaching with another teacher. He teaches science and math, and the other teacher teaches Social Studies and English. For those subjects, the students switch classes. It makes the planning much easier!
Classes for me started a few weeks ago also! After this semester I will officially be half way (maybe just over half way) finished. This semester I will declare an advising professor, get a degree plan filed, and actually know my expected graduation date. I am taking Crisis Communication and Health Communication. I love my crisis class! The professor is so funny, so organized, and so knowledgeable. The three hours flies by! My Health Communication class, well, it is a bit different. While I love the content of what we are talking about, the professor conducts her class in some ways I disagree with. I am trying not to let that affect the way I feel about the class in general, but that is proving more and more difficult each week. I am determined to stay positive, though, and to be a "light in the darkness".
Work with McGraw-Hill is back in full swing. I have a new sales rep this year that I work for, and she is just delightful. We have so much in common....she and her husband celebrated their one year anniversary in July, her husband teaches elementary, and no kids to name a few. On Friday I spent the day manning our booth at the Fort Worth Diocese textbook fair for all the Catholic schools in Fort Worth. Our booth was between two other publishers who's reps were nuns. Interesting.
In other fun news, Dave surprised me last weekend with a wonderful dinner out for Fondue! We have been wanting to go eat fondue for a long time. Dave has been auctioning some of his Warhammer models on ebay, and made so much extra money we went to dinner. It was one of the most fun experiences we have had together. We started the meal with a cheese fondue of Spinach and Artichoke with Mediterranean white cheeses, our main course was a vegetable broth with citrus juices, fresh garlic and cilantro. They brought us all kinds of things to cook in it too. We had lobster tail, shrimp, two kinds of beef, two kinds of chicken, pork and a huge bowl of vegetables and potatoes. For dessert we had a chocolate fondue called Cookies and Cream Marshmallow Dream! We dipped bananas, strawberries, pound cake, fudge, brownies, cheesecake, marshmallows and nuts. Needless to say, after that meal, all we wanted was a nap. It was such a wonderful and fun experience. I totally recommend it for a unique outing.

Ok, and now what you all have been waiting (or reading)for. My pajama pants!!! That's right, I turned about 3 yards of fabric into those adorable pajama pants below. It only took me three hours, too!!!!

Love to you all! Can't wait to see the siblings this next weekend. And Congrats to Cousin Lorie Beth and Scott on the birth of their baby boy Henry!!!!

Karen