Grove Christmas Parade--The Grinch

Two days and NO exams!!!

Well--we have two days left until we leave for Ireland. Sleepy was picked up by mom and dad today, and we already miss the guy :(. The house is emptier without his snuggles and excitement. I hope he's enjoyed there though.
I finished my last exam Saturday afternoon and now there's just a million other things to do before Wednesday. I still haven't done laundry for the trip, cleaned the house, or even started packing (though I've been thinking about it for about a month--that counts right?). I also need to clean out the car for the drive down the ATL, charge all the electronics, pick up prescriptions, develop film, and wait for the plumber to come fix the leaking problem from our--wait for it--chimney (we have a chimney for a stove pipe hook up, we've never used it of course). So fun stuff to do tomorrow and Tuesday. Tonight Dave was going to cut his hair short, so I decided to have some fun with it. Being my premier hair cut, it turned out like one of the New Kids on the Block--the first time around, lol. Here's some pictures to prove it :).

1. Egg nog or Hot Chocolate?
Egg nog if we are decorating a tree at my parent's, and Hot Chocolate on normal days.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Ummm...dunno, no one ever did Santa with me.

3. Colored lights or white?
White.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No, but I think it's a fun idea--Grandmama always hangs fake mistletoe and I like it

5. When do you put your decorations up?
We only put up a tree every other year and it's usually the week after Thanksgiving. On the other year we just put up a few Christmas decorations since we leave for Dave's parent's house the 2nd week of Dec.

6. Favorite holiday dish?
Grandmama's cream corn

7. Favorite memories as a child?
Going on scavenger hunts to find where our presents were hidden, reading the Christmas story the morning of Christmas, and opening stockings.

8. When/how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I don't remember ever being told that Santa existed, but I told all my friends that he didn't! lol

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Only if we are at Grandmama's

10. How do you decorate the tree?
First Dave trims off the bottom part of the tree so it will fit in the stand and cuts a few bottom branches off. Then we bring it in, put the lights on it, and put all the special ornaments on first. Most of our ornaments are from places we have traveled or are gifts from family members or things that mean something to us.

11. Snow. Love it or dread it?
Love it! Snowboarding soon hopefully! Plus, when you teach--day off!!! Woot woot!

12. Can you ice skate?
Yes, last time was in Ireland--hopefully go again this year.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Not a specific one, but opening the stockings was/is always my favorite part.

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you?
Spending time with family.

15. Favorite holiday dessert?
Christmas pudding thing they eat over in the U.K.--not exactly sure what it is but you light the sugar on fire to crystalize it right before you eat it--yumm!

16. Favorite Christmas Tradition?
Christmas Eve candlelight service at Grandmama's church.

17. What tops your tree?
An angel Dave and I bought the year we got married.

18. Do you prefer giving or receiving?
Giving.

19. Favorite Christmas song?
Oh Holy Night and Mary Did You Know

20. Candy canes. Yum or yuck?
Yuck.

21. What do you want for Christmas?
Snow and some black boots.

22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party?
Do, but we have an annual friends Christmas dinner party at ours--just last Thursday--so fun!

23. Do you dress up for Christmas Eve or wear P.J.'s?
Dress up--wherever we are there is a Christmas Eve service to attend.

24. Do you own a Santa hat?
Nope.

25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with?
Every other year we are with my parents and the other year with Dave's parents. Hopefully that will continue for a long long time.

Excited

The week ahead excites me. There are events almost every day and then next week we'll be headed to Ireland!!! Today we are getting a few friends together for a Friend's Christmas Dinner. Dave and I (mostly Dave really, unless he tells me what to do) are cooking two chickens for the main course and some stuffing. Dave is going to walk me through all of it, because he always likes doing the chickens and there's not much room in our kitchen (or marriage?--lol) for two cooks :). Everyone else is bringing the side items. I'm very excited about it. Dave is home today because it is raining and the part of the house they are working on now can't be done in the rain. So, he's helping me put out a few Christmas decorations (we have the Christmas tree candle smelling the house up so nice) and figuring out how 9 people are going to fit around our table (he's rigged up quite the nice extension board since our table didn't come with one--it's beautiful really).

Tomorrow is Erin's house warming party--which somehow I am the one hosting it (at her house of course). I'm not really an events coordinator, mostly because I have no clue how these things work. But, I sent out a list of everything Erin still needs to all her friends and called a few people to bring some snacks. That's it right? I also sent everyone directions on how to get there and what time they should arrive.

Saturday is the town Christmas parade. Our church always does a massive float (last year we won with best design!). It helps to have a lot of builders in our church. This year we are doing the theme of The Grinch that Stole Christmas. The pastor's daughter is Cindy-Loo-Who (so cute!) and his son is Max (he wanted to be on the float too, so they had to give him some part, lol). There are three ladies who are singing in flannel pj's and then the band will be playing on it too! Hopefully I'll get a chance to post some pictures of it--so cool.

Sunday Mom and Dad are coming for lunch and to pick up their grandpuppy, lol. Sleepy is staying with them for the holidays--and I'm sure he'll have a blast. Mom pretends to not like dogs, but she loves Sleepy :).

Monday is my only day of not doing anything--though I'll definitely be packing by then because Tuesday of packed FULL! Tuesday I have my last night class and then we have a party--so we'll be out pretty late.

Wednesday if flight day! Beth and Jodie are taking us to Atlanta to catch our flight--and then we're off to Dublin! Very exciting week so you see :). well, that's about it, I should do some more decorating. I do love Christmas. Love!

A week in pictures

--The whole family--we should get dressed up more often, we look good!

Grandmama and Joshua dancing at his wedding

All the Fisher kids and Grandmama--amazing--I got one without them all talking!

All the Eddy kids--this is the best one, and Mom is in the background :)

The nieces and nephews opening early christmas presents from us since we're heading to Ireland for the holidays

The whole family--great picture I think

Sleepy--he did drive Mom a little crazy this week, but he's back home and all cuddled in a blanket. It's snowing outside right now so it's pretty cold here.

Two cute sweaters

Dave's wish list

It's rather short actually, because he can never think of anything he wants until he gets it or someone else suggests it, so here's a few things to think of for Dave's christmas or bday (Jan 2).
-Climbing Magazine (search online--pretty good price)
-small, marino wool sweater (in something other than brown--maybe maroon, dark green, dark orange, or dark blue)
-Lowes gift card
-Ace Hardware gift card
-Backcountry.com gift certificate (just go to the site and search for it and it pops up)
-any air miles you wanna toss our way :)

hope that helps!

Rambling and holiday wishes

This weekend Dave is off caving with Peak Ministries. He'll be back sometime tomorrow evening--hopefully not too late. I've slept quite a bit since he left and watched A LOT of TV on the Internet. I took Sleepy for a walk to chase the squirrels in the park yesterday, and then we went over to a friend's and I had coffee and he played with their dog Layla. Last night I went to see Quantum of Solace--the new James Bond film. It was really good actually. I was surprised that the drama and story-line were pretty interesting. This morning I had a dream about buying a motorbike. It was smaller, only went to about 80 without roaring too much, and cost $300. Man I want a motorbike.
Today I need to catch up on some homework, as I slacked off yesterday, and write a lesson plan.

I've been thinking about a few things I would love to get for the holidays, since some of you asked. So here's a list:
-nice set of make-up brushes
-nice cooking wooden spoon (long and sturdy)
-light, solid color (bright colors: pink/orange, turquoise, plum, etc) pullover cardigan (v-neck)-Medium
-black button-up cardigan
-light pink button-up dress shirt-Medium
-solid black, brown, or gray dress socks
-books: Pilgrims (Elizabeth Gilbert), The Glass Castle: A Memoir, Three Cups of Tea
-DVDS: Mama Mia, Multiplicity, P.S. I love you, Gross Point Blank, Stranger Than Fiction, Blood Diamond, Last King of Scotland
-an Amazon gift card would work just as well!

fun pix

This is the picture on my professional website. I'd give you the address, but I don't know it :). When I'm done with it I'll definitely find the address and let you all go there (though, it's boring and really just for parents of students and schools to look at). I had to make one for my Teaching English class (that's our final exam) and still need to put more things up on it. Maybe I'll add some pictures or something--I could NEVER be a web page builder, I'm really bad at it.

I have a countdown on my facebook page of when we are leaving for Ireland and it says 34 days! I can't believe the Fall semester has flown by this quickly. I'm starting to yearn to hear Christmas music! All my girl friends are playing it at their houses and in their cars, but Dave hates Christmas music (especially if it is not officially Christmas season) so I've been refraining when he's around. But I LOVE Christmas music. I think it all started when I was little and Daddy and I used to make sure there was Christmas music playing while we decorated the Christmas tree (on Thanksgiving night) and BBN used to start playing Christmas music at the beginning of November! I'm getting all antsy for the holiday season--especially Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday (and Fall is my favorite season). I love that we just hang out with the family, eat, watch football (or in Dad's case watch the parades), and talk. There's not bother with presents or the stress of what to get everyone--it's just about family and being thankful we are surrounded by our loved ones and are loved and taken care of by God. I LOVE IT! I can't wait--just a few more weeks and I'll be (hopefully carpooling) coming home for Joshua's wedding and then it will be the week of Thanksgiving! ~Sigh~

This morning I am working on a few homework things and then getting ready to go to Asheville with my friend Beth. We never saw Nights of Rodanthe (super chick flick w/ Richard Gere) and so we're heading there to watch it and do some Christmas shopping. Well--I guess I should really get on that. I still hafta take a shower and eat breakfast :-D. Talk to you later!

Halloween 70's style

This is the front of our house on Halloween night

Ignorance is NOT bliss!!!

I went to the doctor yesterday...no wait...Tuesday, to get some for my allergies. The doctor asked, "how long has your congestion been present?" I said, "Three weeks." He said it sounded like a sinus infection, but I refused to believe. Mostly it was just runny nose! So he gave me medicine for both allergies and an antibiotic for a sinus infection. I wake up this morning and I can't hear out of one ear and my check feels like someone is sitting on it when I breath in---OK OK--I HAVE A SINUS INFECTION...ugh. So I started taking the medicine. I'm sure I would have felt better by now if I had started taking it Tuesday, but, I'm resistant to antibiotics cause they crash my system. I suppose it's a good thing it's already in bad shape. I feel like poop--POOP! And my ear keeps popping. And I just want to watch Dawson's Creek and sleep some more, cause that's what Candice and I used to do in Canada when we were sick, but I don't have any of the DVD's. Sad day. Maybe I'll make some tea---awww man, I know I'm sick when I O.K. with drinkin tea!

P.S. today was the first real frost here--window scrapin frost. Good thing I don't have go anywhere for awhile cause Dave's got the scraper--would be a good thing to get one for both vehicles.

Turn out the lights...I'll be back November the 5th!

I'm about ready to pull a blanket over my head and come out on November 5th. I'm tired, angry, and just ready to toss the whole political system of our government. I'm tired of political christians saying God is on their side--dragging God through the dirt of one party or another--saying things like "You can't be a Christian and be a Republican/Democrat." I'M SO TIRED OF IT!!! SHOVE IT ALL!!!! I cannot listen to one more extremist radio host talk about how the other candidate is going to take this country to hell--and not say why their candidate wouldn't!!!!

I wish it were simple for me, if I could jump on the whole abortion band wagon and just vote because of one thing--but I can't even do that! Both presidential candidates agree that abortion is o.k. for different reasons--Obama is 100% pro-choice, McCain thinks it's o.k. if you've been raped or there is incest involved. I don't think either are right, and really, REALLY, is there a LEAST WRONG when it comes to life???? But when it comes down to it, I simply can't throw the rest of government out with the dirty bath water and say--"The person who stands the way I do on abortion will be the best president"--I CAN'T! Morally people will CHOOSE to have an abortion or not--the president cannot make them have or avoid one, and those are PERSONAL moral decisions--if a person is against abortion and he/she will not have one. I'm not pro-choice, but I cannot stand by and watch the economy crash and place my bets on the president with the least moral whoa's in my opinion.

I want the one who will run this country the best--who will pick our foreign policy out of the dust and do something with it--who will help our economy--who will decide how this war will end for the better, have an exit strategy, and figure out where we as a country are going to stand with helping the rest of the world--who will STOP running up the national debt to unfathomable highs--who will help us find it in our hearts to try a preserve some of this world around us by searching for alternative fuel sources--who will improve our education system, maybe even paying the teachers a bit more attention--I want the best for the job, the one with the best ideas and strategies for our government--But I'm afraid I will have to settle for the least worst, because these two choices aren't great, and why the heck do we feel that two major choices is REALLY a choice--right now I feel like Democracy is a scam--and for a country who prides themselves on creating it--we really should do better at pretending we actually have a Democracy.

What do you base your vote on?

Girls weekend

Aren't those blue eyes just striking! I love them :)

I'm home alone...well, Sleepy and I, this weekend. Dave got the opportunity to head to the Red River Gorge in KY this weekend to climb with friends from Michigain and I chose not to tag along. But I've had a pretty incredible weekend so far. Yesterday I caught up with my much-missed-friend Beth, who was in S. Africa for the last month. We went to see Secret Life of Bees (so incredible, really did justice to the book, minus Dakota Fanning who needs to learn how to act as a non-child actor), and then went to dinner. Then we went over to another friend's house and played Rock Band! I had never played before, but I could see how I could get addicted to playing guitar VERY quickly--so fun. Today, I got up early for a Saturday (9 a.m.--I know you moms are so jealous--lol) and got right on it! I got a lesson plan, dishes, and a few other things done before lunch. Then I raft guided this afternoon for the last time of the season (yes, it was frigid). After work I went straight to the high school volley ball game; they are in the play-offs and they KICKED BUTT!!! Afterwards, Erin, Beth, and I came back to my place and we cooked chicken and dumplings (mom's way--love it!) and baked carrot cake! Then we had coffee and cake and played Settlers!!!! Wonderful weekend--and it's not over!!! At the moment, Sleepy is snoozing beside me on the couch.

Moving out of the Fog

Here are the pictures from when the fog started to life. The colors are just brilliant! I'm not sure how much longer they'll last though, especially when they are already so bright so early into the Fall! We'll just have to enjoy them while they last!

Weekend with B

This is my favorite picture from the weekend. We hung the camera on a tree branch and had to keep turning with it and hoping it would get us in it!


This weekend my little sis came up to visit and we had a great time. Friday Dave, Sophie, and I met her in Asheville and ate dinner and went to a movie. It was really nice. Saturday we decided B needed to see the beautiful fall scenery around here and went for a hike in the Shining Rock wilderness area. We took the Blue Ridge Parkway on the way up, and then it started to get pretty menacing. The weather got dark and darker until a fog appeared that was so thick we could barely see twenty feet in front of the car. I optimistically said it would "burn off," but it wasn't letting up. We pushed on. When we got there were surprised to see the parking lot so full of cars and people on a day like that. It was pretty cold and wet so we all had on layers and rain jackets. When we started we were kinda chilly, though Sleepy seemed fine as long as we kept moving. The fog wasn't letting up, and it was crazy to think the colors around us were so beautiful, yet we couldn't see a THING! The pictures, and video, are below to prove that one. About three o'clock, as we were ALMOST back the parking lot and at the end of our hike, it cleared a bit. It was amazing! We got some pretty cool pictures I must say. Without further ado....here's the fog.

Entering the Fog

It's crazy how you can hear the wind whipping around us, and how quickly Dave and B disappear in front of me.

Bath time!

So Thursday Sleepy rolled in something awfully smelly. We like to all curl up on the couch together and that was just NOT happening with him smelling putrid. Friday Dave decided he needed a bath and got right to it after he got home from work (considering he was already dirty). He didn't stay dry for long, Dave that is, so it was a good thing he stayed in his work clothes. Sleepy was not at all convinced he needed a bath!

Dave's already soaked at this point--look at his pants


Sleepy is not loving the bath--it's even warm water!


Escape!!!

Caught again. Back in the tub for you buddy! Oh well, at least you don't have to get one again for awhile.

NO CAFFEINE!

It had now been 11 days since I had caffeine of any kind, including Coke. It started as a realization that I hadn't had any for about 4 days, and maybe that was why my head refused to stop throbbing. I thought about the fact that anything that has withdrawl symptoms can't be that good for you, and it's not like my body actually NEEDS caffeine in large doses. Plus, drinking sodas is really harmful for me since I need calcium so badly and soda sucks the calcium right outta your bones. So, I'm off of it for now, I'm not sure how long I'm going to keep it up, but I'm feeling pretty good and I'm drinking more water!

I taught again last week and it went o.k. It was Homecoming at school last week, so the classes were crazy with all the kids dressing up and events after school. I also got to experience my first practice lockdown--which was interesting. Basically you lock the doors and stay that way until the prescribed measure have been completed. No one comes in or out until then, even if the principle is telling you to open up--you say no and keep the door locked. Interesting.

Yesterday was GAF--Guest Appreciated Festival--at NOC. It's the biggest gear swap on the East Coast, and it was pretty fun. Though, because it was earlier in the year this year, I feel like there weren't as many vendors. I did get a new Patagonia rain jacket (mine was pretty much useless) and a pair of pants though.

Today is a big day at our church too. We are having a picnic afterwards and a volleyball tournament anyone in town can enter. It's three-on-three and it should be pretty good. I think two of my girlfriends, Erin and Beth, are going to get the high school volleyball star to be their third (she's awesome). Hopefully I'll get some pictures of it all. Pray it doesn't rain!

Well, Dave just made an amazing breakfast of peach waffles for the both of us. I'm sad the peach season is over, I think they are my favorite fruit. I gotta get to breakfast now, see ya later!

Saturday hiking trip

A beach we found on the way home beside a beautiful lake. We stopped here and cooked dinner on the beach!

Books I am reading at the moment (and highly recommend):

1) The Last Lecture
Grandmama lent me this one after reading it on Patsy's insistence and I am just loving it! Most chapters are less than five pages and it's just easy to read and enjoy.

2) Journey of Desire
I have read this one before but not for a long time. I really loved it the first time. One of the first non-fiction books I've ever re-read!

3) Harry Potter 7
Ok, so I love Harry Potter, as you know. I just finished re-reading this one last night. They just NEVER get old! Dave actually had to tell me to quit reading some this week because I was ignoring him. One night at dinner he said, "NO Potter at the table, just me!"

4) I about to start reading "Twilight" of the Twilight series.
B let me borrow them from her. They are REALLY popular right now and I wanted to know what all the fuss is about. The movie of the first book comes out in November, the same day that the Harry Potter 5 movie was originally supposed to come out, so it better be good.

5) Lord Change My Attitude: Before It's Too Late
So, there's a back story to this one. A previous Christian boss gave me this several years ago, a book I still insist is not gift material because of the title, and I have not read it because I am stubborn...and I like to hold grudges. But, I decided that needs to stop, so I picked it up the other day. I have just read a bit of it, but I figure it couldn't hurt right? I mean, the Eddy women do have a history of big attitudes right? Maybe it's just me then. ;-)

Books I have and will read soon:
1, 2, & 3) The rest of the Twilight series
4) "Teacher Man" (same guy that wrote "Angela's Ashes")
5) "The Shack" (don't have yet)
6) "Three Cups of Tea" (don't have yet)

Gosh I just love reading. I really think I could do it all day! Is there a job in which I can read all the books I want to read and get paid for it? That would be lovely.

Reflection on the week behind...

I feel rather mellow. I am sitting here with an excellent glass of wine and a full stomach as a long week is drawing to a close. I came home Sunday afternoon from visiting my family for a wonderfully long four days. I got to spend time with each of my siblings, not something I get to do very often. I even saw a movie with David--which REALLY doesn't happen very often considering how busy he always is with one thing or another. It was great to get a day with Shannon without the boys. I told her I probably hadn't done that since middle school :). Sunday evening I got to spend a few precious minutes with my Sophie (my B.C. adopted sis) in Black Mountain. She made me pasta and we had coffee at the nearby coffee shop (awesome place).

Monday I awoke to Sleep going absolutely crazy with itching--flees. I had to go to the vet to get a pill for him and gave him some Benedril just to stop the scratching (it didn't even put him to sleep). With that, and going to the laundry, my morning disappeared pretty quickly. All afternoon I worked on the homework I effectively put off on my visit home :). Beth and Erin came over that evening and we happily played Settlers.
Tuesday I was at the high school all day and then off to class in the evening. Dave came with me to do some rock climbing in the gym there. Wednesday I went to work at NOC with a great group of kids from an international private school in Atlanta. Awesome group really. Thoroughly enjoyed them. One of the teachers asked me if I would like to teach at a school like theirs and I said "in a heartbeat." Today I worked with the group again and again had a great time. The cool weather has been perfect for working outside the last couple of days. The high yesterday was 72--love it! Tomorrow I'm off to the high school again, the first time I will have been there on a Friday and will get to dress more casually. Saturday I may be raft guiding, but if not Dave and I are going for a walk somewhere. I'm actually hoping they don't need me because we haven't been on a good hike in quite awhile!

Well, that's really all I had to say. Just thought I would update you on my day-to-day. Hope you are all having a great week!

First teaching day

Today was my first day I actually got to teach...and it went really well! We had a short day though, only hour long classes. I was originally going to teach yesterday, which would have given me a full 90 minutes, but today they had student council elections which threw everything off. So, I had to cut down my lesson plan, but I still think it went well. I had this little squishy nerf ball thing which I threw to the students if they wanted to answer or ask a question or give input of any kind. I have two regular senior English classes and two honors English classes, so they are generally pretty talkative (sometimes at the wrong time, which is where the ball comes in). It worked well until third period when my ball went missing (aka someone stole it). Oh well, it was free anyway. All in all a good teaching day and SOOOO much better than observing. I'm tired of handing out papers and moving the projector around--it was good to do some real teaching. I feel like they actually learned something today too, and that makes me feel quite nice.

A single girl and her ferret (I know right? weird, but hey, at least it's not a German Shepherd) just stopped by and I think they are going to rent the apartment next door. It will be great to get someone back in there so quickly! Our last tenant just left 2 days ago!

Well, that's all the updates I have for now. I got tons of lesson planning to do, see ya!