Located the Digital Camera

This may be the best tree we've gotten so far.  I still don't have a stocking to hang on the mantel, but a Smartwool sock will do.  Maybe I'll wrap a few presents today.  All of this snow has me in the mood.  Or I could tackle that work-related to-do list.  Tough call.

To the Extreme

I've always had this really bad habit of picking on the pimples on my face.  I know.  Gross.  But it is what it is.  Last night, though, Dave went into great detail about having to drain fluid from people's faces when they've overdone the picking and acquired MRSA.  MRSA on the face, that is.  This may just be enough information to kick the habit.  No.  Let me rephrase.  It IS enough information to kick the habit.

From the Cyber Cafe

Greetings from Albustinky, everyone!  That's what the flight attendant called Albuquerque on my flight here from Denver on Tuesday.  I don't quite get it yet, but I'm sure there's a little joke in there somewhere.  Very little. 

I'm gone again on another trip.  The conference I'm attending is fantastic, though, and I've been able to catch up with good pals, Whitney and Angela.  Whitney's lived in ABQ for a while now, and Ang flew down so we could have a reunion.  How great is that?  We've laughed and cried a lot already, so everything is going as expected. 

Looking forward to heading home tomorrow, though.  Missing my husband and my pillow. 

Except I Forgot to Blog

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving in Montana.  The whole family was able to make it even though Andrew had to skip out on a group project in Canada to be there. Obviously a smart choice on his part. We ate the requisite amount of food on Thursday and over the weekend, which left us all feeling totally sastisfied and a little sick.  We did hike two local mountains to make up for it, and even mama doc made it to the top on the second one. We played a new game, Mexican Train Dominoes, for at least three hours each day. I was glad to win the first time, but made a poorer showing in the following rounds.  I was so happy to be relaxing and enjoying family that I was actually a very good sport when losing.

As you can see, the holiday was remarkable all around. 

Still a Little Itchy

After lying in bed for about 5 minutes last night, I started to have a strange sensation that I might be having an allergic reaction to something. I was right. They came on slowly, but I had hives.  All over my back, arms, neck.  Really itchy.  Even in my ears.

You might think that having a husband who is a doctor is useful in a moment like this. He was only interested in sleeping, though, and I had to make a lot of scratching and whimpering noises just to get his attention.  When I finally woke him with a loud DAVE, he didn't even want to see my hives.  I was shocked.  Then, I had to suggest my own treatment -- Benadryl and a shower.  A flat "fine" was all I got.

When discussing the incident this morning, it seemed that I had really inconvenienced Dave by waking him with something so trivial.  "But my body was on fire!" I exclaimed.  "And you didn't even try to help!"

His reply: "Taking the shower was a bad idea.  It just triggers the body's histamine blah, blah, blah, and makes everything worse."

Huh.  Wish I had known that the night before.  He was right.  The shower really put me over the edge, but I managed to lie there quietly burning up until the Benadryl kicked in because I really wanted to believe that I had handled this medical emergency myself.

Warming Up

I'm going to try not to be all meta-cognitive about the blogging, but let me just say, it's really hard.  I've been working on today's post for at least 20 minutes.  I had a pretty solid entry about a student in my class who is ALWAYS on his laptop, but then I decided not to post it in case my blog is easy to find.  So, that's lame.  And now I have to leave for the day.  There's probably some necessary warming up going on here since it's been a while.  I promise not to blog about the blogging after this. 

 

The Contest

I've been shamed into this contest, and I'm already losing.  The premise is that KC, Lee, and I will each blog every day until 2010.  And comment.  I just learned about that comment part this morning.  I like a good competition, and even though I've already technically lost, I think that I can make up for missing a blog post and comment yesterday with flashiness.  FLASHINESS.  There.

So, stay tuned daily.  This is going to be excellent.  Best blog ever.  (KC assures me it's all in the attitude).

Weekend Update

The school year is off to a good, busy start so far. I am juggling four different obligations -- teaching, observing student teachers, and gathering data for two projects, my own and one I've been a part of for a couple of years. I'm enjoying each obligation, but finding time to just sit, think, and write has been a challenge. Hopping here and there each day is bearable due to the new vehicle we purchased over the summer. I didn't know I could love automatic windows and a cd player so much.

Married life is as amazing as I hoped it would be. Sure, we argue every night about who gets to use the bathroom sink first, but if Dave keeps making squash soup and baking apple pies on the weekends, I could stand to forfeit my corner of the bathroom until he's done.

Here's a long-overdue shot of the rockingest wedding band in all of history.