Allrightey, another month, another blog.
Let's see: Mom's retiring, party was fine, I actually recognized a handful of faces. Our gift made her cry, which is good. Prayer concerns for my grandmother who is slated for open heart surgery. There is some debate as to whether to do this before or after Christmas. James is back, looking better than ever. He carries himself with a bit more pride now, a welcome change. He seems to have some purpose about him. Volleyball tournament finishes up tomorrow night and we have a tough row to hoe. We are in the loser's bracket against the church that put us there, but if they play like they did last week, we should do okay. Contingent upon our victory, we would have to play the other FBC team who won the regular season. We split against them (we handed them their only loss); they are the team to beat. Not only do we have to beat them once, but twice as it is double elimination. So there is a potential of 3 matches tomorrow--should be fun.

Ellice is rounding out the school semester both college and work. She is stressed as usual, but I am doing my best to relieve it. I'm handling the remainder of the Christmas shopping to ease her burden.

I have begun a revamping of my book, with some fresh faces and deeper storyline, Ellice has heard the bare bones of the story and thinks it is a great improvement. The best way to describe it as a more mature effort on my part. I don't consider the draft I completed a failure but more a step in the process. Some things worked, some things didn't and in the end I had fun with it. It's good to know I can write a story from start to finish, even if it isn't completely fleshed out.

Academic team finished with 2 wins, and a poor showing in our big tournament. But the kids had fun and garnered some experience which may help them in the future. 2 of the kids however placed in the written subject tests, which is a definite positive.

I got an A in my 803 class, so still doing well in my Grad classes. I'm also officially in the MAT program and qualify for financial aid, which will really help us out. Registered for a full load, 12 hrs and I'll be subbing on the days I'm not it class.

Anything else? Oh we bought a new car. I'm looking for one of those giant ribbons you see in the commercials if anyone has one lying around. For more on that, see Ellice's blog.

Merry Christmas