hark...the real news from this girl

Hark...it's not a re-post. It's not just a brief update, with a lost promise for more. It is, however, a combination post, where I attempt to conquer two tasks in one: to update you on my recent life and to share some of my favorite Christmas tree ornaments.

The ornament challenge was presented by my illustrious high school friend, Alison, who was just down for a visit on black Friday. She posted about her favorite ornaments and her eclectic taste for ornaments. I have the same eclectic taste, and often buy what I think looks pretty and unique. When decorating my tree, I combine two kinds of ornaments: traditional round glass ornaments in different colors and one-of-a kind ornaments.

This glass angel is one of my faves. She is covered in blue iridescent glitter and when the light hits her she shines and sparkles.


These stars are fantastic, wonderful, special and inexpensive. Michael's has carried them for three years now and I buy more each time I see them. They are plastic iridescent stars, and they catch the light, but don't take up to much visual room. They don't make the tree look overloaded with ornaments, but they add interest and catch the colored lights.

Yes, I use colored lights. Alison pointed out that only uptight anal retentive people use white lights, or at least I think that's what she admitted. I have been a staunch supporter of the colored lights in my own house, but I do appreciate when people put their white light trees in the front windows. I think those look better than the colored light ones in the windows, but I still put colored lights on my tree. At night I will turn off the lights in the room and stare at my tree. It glows and I love the magic of it.

Have I lost you yet? Okay, so here's the skinny on my life right now. I did post a couple of weeks ago that my job will be phased out at the end of the school year. It was a bummer when I first found out, but now has become kind of like a treasure hunt to find something else. I talked to a couple of people, one of which was a friend at church who is an HR rep for her company. She let me send her my resume, so she could help me retool it, but it turns out they had an opening and I went in last week for an interview with her and her boss.

The interview wasn't intense at all, but laid back and conversational. There was a test I had to take, which I am still thinking about to this day, but it wasn't too bad. They told me I did well on it, so I was glad to know that. I won't know anything about the job for awhile, and I do know they were interviewing other people. However it turns out, I feel good getting back in there and starting down the road to finding a new job.


Okay, another ornament. This one was a gift from a student last year, and I love it. It's a little piece of pop culture. I was so excited to receive it, and went immediately home and hung it on my tree. Another teacher at school also got one, but didn't realize it what it was. I told her it was a shopping bag from Bloomingdales! She didn't really know about Bloomingdales, so I can understand why she didn't think it was as wonderful as I did. It totally adds to my collection since we don't have a Bloomingdales here and the family bought it in Chicago for us! I felt really special.

In other updates, our adoption agency is now working with three birthmothers, so there is a good possibility we could hear something soon. Prayers for that, please.

The kids at school are crazy these last couple of weeks before Christmas. I would say that 95% of our students at school celebrate Christmas, but we have had several parents in this week giving talks about Hanukkah. Either way, everyone is antsy to get to the winter break. Me included. I have major book revisions to do, and can't seem to work on it at the end of the day when my brain is fried. Vacation will help.

Oh, this Friday my sweetie of a husband is taking me away to a bed and breakfast for a night away. What a man!

And, if you need a good read, check out Pioneer Woman's Black Heels to Tractor Wheels series. It is the love story between her and he studly husband, Marlboro Man. What a story! I am still thinking about it. It is in the confessions section of her website.

Charlie is currently working on installing an exhaust fan in our master bathroom. Evidently in 1961 when our house was built it was not code to install fans in bathrooms if they had a window. Ours has a window. But I am certainly not going to be opening it while I am showering in December and we were having a moisture issue in there. Hence, the fan. Charlie is doing a great job, but my bathroom is torn apart, because he also is putting in a new light over the sink. So we have been using the smaller guest bath to shower and get ready. It's tight. And I keep having to go back and forth to the bedroom to get things. That part is annoying, but soon it will be over and I can get back in my bathroom and I will have a fan!

Enough? Do you feel like we've caught up? Hope so. If you have questions, leave a comment!