No Excuse!

I have no good excuse for not updating my blog. I have enjoyed keeping up with all of yours! Greg and I have been enjoying our normal, everyday life - work, gym, dogs, and football. I've visited Boog and family for some good times and good food! It's fun being there for the growth of "California Baby" and preparing the big sister. They've been here a couple times, and Greg and I were petsitters for Muzzy when they went to South Bend. Leah (I can never remember how she spells her name...) was not available. As you can see, she is a true pet lover! A little later Pele even kissed Mr. Cal. It was quite amusing, especially since Mr. Cal didn't seem to mind. Marin continues to impress with her growth and brilliance. I can say that as her aunt! She is like her cousin Annie with language. I'm also amazed at her "negotiation" skills. (For example, Boog told her she could have a candy after church. She brought it to me, pointed to the label, and proclaimed to me that it said, "eat before church.")
My voice continues to improve, so I hope to catch up with everyone. Even better, my Christmas/Birthday present is a new laptop and I will be good to go for video chats! I decided that it would ease the national board pain to have a better "tool" to work with. After many hours of research and continual checking websites for deals, I ordered an MSI computer from Tiger Direct. Although I'm not familiar with the brand, I spoke with a human computer guy for my final comparisons. THis one appears to meet my needs, and even has the webcam, which was a "want" not a "must have" on my list! I'm quite pleased with the deal that I got, and it has a 3 year warranty to ease my mind. It has dual core tech, plenty of storage, and windows 7. Speed! It may take a week or two to get here because it was back ordered, but I will be in touch!! (Yes - I even woke up every two hours to see if I could get the $298 HP deal from Wal Mart online Friday, and went there at 4:00 AM to confirm what I thought - impossible. ) I ended up getting more (without the brand name) for less than $100 more. As you can tell, I'm excited about this. Hopefully I'll be able to transfer all of my info and software with ease.
As for the holidays, we plan to visit Greg's family in Florida and be at home to work. I have a couple work sessions scheduled already with some fellow "national boarders" in my district. There are 2 others in year two for my same subject area and one who just earned hers. We should be able to provide moral support to each other and collaborate. I'm not clear yet on how much I must do over, but at least I'm in a better starting place then I was last year. It will still be a ton of work, but hopefully will not consume me as fully as it did from January - March '09.
Sorry for the long, rambling post. You will probably be happy if I don't do another for a month! Love to all.