I'll cover my mouth when I cough.

My voice is a bit raspy, I can feel the soreness in my throat, and the Kleenex box is inching closer to my desk. I really am too busy to get sick, but at least Thanksgiving Day vacation is coming quickly. I will have three of my four kids here on Monday. Tuesday is also a school day, but Tony will be the only one here. Rachel and Paula's family will be out of town, and their parents requested the school work go with them.

Yesterday was home school co-op. Because I wasn't on duty, I thought I'd be able to get some personal work done, such as working on putting my handwritten journals into the computer. Yeah, right. Out of the three hours I spend at co-op, I got about 30 minutes to work on that. The rest of the time I was chatting with other parents, organizing parent classes for next semester, or making see DeeDee was fed and taken care of.

During my conversations, one new mother to our co-op asked me why would I a (Master)degreed teacher decide to home school. I gave her my answer, (finances, unsettled schools, etc., etc.). But as I thought about the question, I suddenly remembered an experience my brother and I had when we were about 4-6th grade. Our family had an occasion to go to California from our Washington State home. We were gone for about three weeks, during which time we had to do our school work at our grandparents' table. Both my brother and I enjoyed it and the classes took only a few hours rather than all day. Once our work was done, we had the rest of the day to vacation (think Southern California - swimming, theme parks, and the like.) The best part about the whole event was when we returned to school. We discovered that in our three week absence, we ended up about a week ahead of everyone else in our school work. The grades my brother and I earned were higher as well.

(I would be taking a sip of tea right now, expect my tea making stuff is in storage right now, pout. pout.)

So, have you started your Christmas shopping yet? I know what we're getting for Tony (he's going to be thoroughly shocked and hopefully happy), and for DeeDee. I'm working my gifts for my parents and for my MIL. And for Angelo...., ahem, and for Angelo? Anyone have any ideas? I sure would appreciate it.

(one more virtual sip of pomegranate tea.)

It's going to be a long day tomorrow. I have to teach DeeDee's Bible class at church; Angelo is on duty to make sure all needs are met. After services we have a potluck, followed by a townhall meeting with the administrative officials. After the meeting we have a family fun night. And, since Angelo is on duty, I doubt we will have a chance to go home between events. Being on duty means we have to be the first to arrive to open the building and the last to leave to make sure the building is secure. And if I'm not feeling well...... Yeah, it's going to be a loooooong day.