Recharged, with my eye on the prize.

Have you ever really just felt rested? As in, well-rested. I'll be the first to admit that this rarely happens. But I think I'm getting there. Point is, I feel healthy again. Last week, I was battling a terrible cold. I think the children were getting bored of me stopping during a story to blow my nose.

My mother always said I never had any common sense. Well, Mom, this one's for you. On Thursday, I felt so awful I could barely get out of bed. When I rummaged around my room to find the number for the sub hotline at 5:05am, I realized.. wow, I have NO idea how to call in sick. So.. I got my fever-stricken body out of bed and dressed for work. Oh yeah, I took double the recommended dosage of Mucinex and then drove to work. I felt AMAZING. One of the instructional coaches told me I looked awful, but I felt great. When I explained to her the situation, she promised to teach me how to call in sick. So the next time I feel like death, I can take the day off :)

Kelly, Declan, Cari and I went to the Christmas Festival downtown after work on Friday. I was feeling pretty good by that point so it felt like the right thing to do. We saw the lighting of the Nashville Christmas Tree, a fireworks presentation (I know- fireworks in December were unexpected BUT AWESOME), and then the parade. There were balloons and floats and clowns.. and we loved every second of it. We grabbed a quick bite for dinner and considered going out. By 9:05, I felt like it was time to hit the Nyquil and call it a night. A ten hour coma later, and I woke up on Saturday morning ready to take on the world! Cari, Liz and I had a very Ya-Ya Sisterhood Saturday afternoon of baking cookies and drinking jello shots. We spent over an hour trying to find cherry Jello.. who knew we would have to search this city far and wide for America's favorite flavor of jello and vodka? All you need to know is that I texted Bennett to let her know she was my "special friend." If you read this, you are probably a special friend too. I'll keep that in mind when I start my slurred texting before 6pm.

We had our first snow today too, which made me quite nostalgic. Nothing stuck but it was beautiful to wake up to that. I spent the afternoon writing papers, planning, and writing holiday cards (and watching the Harry Potter marathon, of course!)

A little less than two weeks until New Jersey! WE CAN DO THIS FELLOW TEACHERS. WE CAN DO THIS!