Happy New Year!

Must be time to update the blog! I went back and added photos to the Iowa entries. Now for the new info! Thursday I went to Unkie and Helen's house for a sleepover. We had a big pizza dinner with my parents; Unkie; Helen; my cousin Karen (who is like my sister); her husband, Lynn (a great pseudo-brother-in-law); and their kids, Connor and Hannah (who I adore). Connor liked his miniature rocket set, and Hannah liked her window painting kit. (It's less messy than it sounds.) Connor and I played chess. He beat me, of course, but I got him down to two chess pieces and we were kind of in a stalemate. We were getting bored, so my king committed suicide.

When I think about staying over and Unkie and Helen's house, I automatically think of pretty quilts over electric blankets. I was not let down. Hannah and I bunked together. I woke up with something in my back. What is that? I wondered, An elbow? A knee? No. It was her head! She had twisted around until she was curled up with her head nestled in my spine. Heh. The next morning, Connor made us ham, egg and cheese sandwiches. It was great to hang out with my cousins and Unkie and Helen.

After that, Mom and I went to see the new house. It's a pre-fab house, and they're buying the model that people tour, so it's got all the bells an whistles. It's a little too airy and modern for me (I like cozy, old-fashioned houses) but it's very nice. My favorite thing was the kitchen. I just wish there were walls!

That afternoon, I had supper with Grandpa Russel and Grandma Norie. Then I dropped Mom and Dad of in Woodward and rushed over to Des Moines for drinks with the ladies at Star Bar. I had a chocolate strawberry concoction and a slice of white raspberry cheesecake while opening presents. Jennifer got me a book I've been covetting for a while. Jessica knitted me a cunning hat and scarf set and gave me two DVDs (in a gorgeous box that I adore). Kelly got me a pretty pink sweater which my boyfriend says looks great on me.

Speaking of the boyfriend, he picked me up from the airport. For lunch we went to Jackson Hole dinner for enormous burgers. Then we hung out at my place while I unpacked. We watched some TV, then had Chinese food while flipping back and forth between a movie (Anger Management...meh.) and a football game (also, meh. At least the food was really good.) Then we joined up with Laura, Madrid and Madrid's boyfriend, Chris, for an amazing house party. (This was my second New Year's Eve at that party.) Laura's boyfriend, Ryan, got off work and showed up before midnight. We had a great time.

On Tuesday, I had to go back to work, which was kind of painful. The kids have been acting all crazy, and they make me want to quit my job. Some of the kids are great, but right now the obnoxious ones are drowning them out (especially class 705), and I'm just not scary enough to keep them in line. To be fair, only the deans and one math teacher, Mr. P, are scary enough, so I can't blame myself too much. Oh, well. I never thought it would be easy.