not getting everything done as planned is not always a bad thing

the truth of the matter is that i should be packing. actually i should have been packed...ok, i should have been packed and left early this morning. aaaaannnnnnddd it's noon. the best part about being an adult is that you can change your plans--which is something i love about being me. spontaneity doesn't scare me. changes to plans happen...flexibility is a necessity. 

that said, i am okay with leaving a little later than originally planned, because the things that kept me from being ready were completely worth it.spending time with friends running errands, Christmas shows, running errands, late-night grocery shopping...writing cards (still behind-some of those things may turn into new years cards! *please see paragraph one and work with me-flexibility ya'all). seriously though, one of my major love languages is quality time-and to be quite honest, quality time for me is so easy because it ranges from just driving around taking in the sights or just sitting around chatting over coffee to rock-climbing, caving, splashing in the ocean...i'm pretty easy, i just like being around friends; in my mind, i'm pretty low maintenance, as little drama as possible. (i don't think i'm delusional...i'm pretty sure that's accurate, if not, someone please correct me!) 

so Christmas enjoyment was pretty much packed into one week-as far as the shows go. a friend and i went to the nutcracker for the first time (originally three of us were going, but friend #3 ended up not being able to go, which made me so sad, as i KNOW she would've loved it! no worries, there will be other fun events). so we made our way to bass hall in fort worth, looking for places to eat-nothing really anywhere was open, and it was close to showtime, so we just went straight to the parking garage (and by straight, i mean i pretty much didn't follow the signs diligently, nor listen to my co-pilot very well, so straight is just a figure of speech...but after several turns, through the one way maze that is ft. worth, we made it to the parking garage).

thankfully they had sippy cups, so we were able to take our drinks into the show. once we found our seats-which were not too bad, there was a slight annoyance behind us called: coughing, sneezing child... is there an etiquette thing about that? anyhoo...being the first experience of this particular ballet, i wasn't sure exactly what to expect (apart from knowing all of the music-one of my favorite Christmas listens)...so the first scene was so difficult to take in because there was so much going on, and i didn't know where to focus my attention. there were some particularly funny parts, and let's not lie about it, when they got to the different countries, those china-men-dancers were amazing! i was impressed-

beautiful theater

thankful for sippy cups at artistic events!

so, yes, there were some funny moments in the program, (i.e. the girl cradling the nutcracker like a baby doll and treating the ugly thing with the utmost of care...slightly amusing)...but one of the funniest moments of the night was when we were going back and trying to remember which floor we'd parked on...so we got of on one floor, looked around, then decided it would be quickest to use the key fob to see if we could hear the car a floor above or below...please note that everyone else was doing the same thing, and there were horns going off all over the place, so with a well timed try, it worked! but that's not the funny part. the comedy was when we were waiting for the elevator to go up to the next floor, and someone-i won't mention names..cough cough nicolette cough was admiring her new coat in the window and saying something about how much she loved it, as the elevator door was open, waiting for us-but her back was turned, so she didn't realize there was an elevator full of people watching her admire her coat...i couldn't contain my laughter, even as we got into the elevator..i tried, but when you try to stifle laughter, it's even worse! now, to her credit, I LOVE HER COAT TOO- it is fabulous...i just didn't realize that she was still working through her feelings for it...after out stifled giggles died down and we found the car, then we grabbed something to eat afterward, as by this point i think we were both a little hungry.

another necessary task- i found a day to give the boys a trim-they were getting to look like ewoks, and that is usually the indicator that something should be done. as you know, i am all about doing it myself-why pay someone else, when you can do a butcher job yourself? they love/hate it, the only part that they love is that i don't put crazy accessories on after the fact (we save those for special occasions-and it's been awhile).

bruno actually thanked me-shows his maturity...chaco tried to convince me that the girls are into long and shaggy....i explained that girls who like long and shaggy probably aren't right for him.

midweek was elf, the musical. i was a little skeptical at first, as loving the movie so much could be a negative. and i wasn't certain where all of the music was going to come from. it had its moments..artistic liberties. some funny ad lib...but what it comes down to is that it wasn't will ferrel (e sounds like a long a, because of the double r...in case you were wondering...emphasis on the first syllable). but i would say it is a great family show!

worth it just to experience it!

the past two weeks were long, and arduous at school because we had a ridiculous amount of testing for our students-my sympathies to students and teachers alike. it was rough.

and i just looked at my last post to see what i had included, and since it was posted on the 3rd, i realized that i haven't mentioned UIL. i inadvertently got involved with this effort-but now i am glad i was conned into it, because i really like the students who are participating-they are rock stars! and i will get a chance to work with them through our next competition-which is the real deal in april. they participated off the cuff, as we had no time to really prep, so they kinda went in blind, but they got their feet wet and i believe they enjoyed just being able to hang out and enjoy each other. it was a full saturday for sure. and we got their results-we really weren't expecting anything, but two of our 4th graders placed in the top to out of 99 and 100!! that was incredibly exciting! proud of them!!

fun kids-they were so excited to get outside to play (december 5th with short sleeve shirts-thx tx!)

 we made a list of must-haves for next time-we were a little unprepared-thanks to having to go through a middle man! but it's all good-it was a good first experience!

this girl put a lot of work into registering and getting everything ready for the kids to be able to participate-barely meeting deadlines- no one told her to close her eyes, but it's indicative of the exhaustion of the week!

and like i said, the last couple of weeks were crazy with all of the testing, then there was the winter carnival-which was very successful! kudos to the pta, mrs. estrada, and admin. for doing a great job in promoting this effort! they raised a significant amount for our campus! and a huge shout-out to our staff who manned the games, as it never would've functioned without them!! and lastly, the clean-up crew a couple of dedicated teachers-you know who you are, and some amazing parents!!

after that, i needed to unwind, so i took a little drive, and that's when i saw this off to the side-this pic doesn't do it justice, it was so pretty, it caught my eye, and i had to go back to get a pic. i need to do this more often!

magical 

oh! and i was so excited that my order came in with some of my favorite things-thanks to lindsey wheeler, and her amazing ministry bottle of tears... very simple ornament with personal message inside-i loved them when i saw them! they were perfect.

thanks linds, for being such an inspiration!!

on that note, i leave you-
julie