Visits...

I had been trying to post once a week.  So, much for that.  Life just started to get too busy during the last few weeks.  I knew that they were going to be crazy and that I would be okay if I could just survive them.  It started with parent-teacher conferences, which went fine.  The problem is that the conferences are stressful and time consuming.  After a long day of work, it is difficult to stay 5 extra hours each night.  It is a good thing that it only happens twice a year.  The next week I had a DART meeting and ALPS testing.  They made us dance around and play weird instruments for the DART meeting.  It was very embarrassing!  I just keep telling myself that the little bit of extra money I will get is worth it.  We will see...

The ALPS testing is what took the longest.  We had an hour long meeting on Wednesday to sort of get trained.  On Thursday, I rushed over to the testing location to set up.  I was lucky enough to be partnered with one of my co-workers (a 2nd grade teacher, who I happen to be friends with).  The testing seemed to go okay that first day.  We were testing second graders to see if they were qualified to enter the program  when they went into third grade.  We had one kid who was VERY disruptive.  We dealt with it...mostly.  I was really worried about getting out on time, because my sister was flying in at 7 pm.  She ended up having to wait for me for a bit.  In the end, it all worked out and we didn't have any issues.

That night, we went out to "Noodles & Company."  It turns out their food is better if you eat it there, and not take it home.  Lesson learned.  We hung out a talked for a while (at my apartment), and then I got ready for the next day.  After work, I headed back to do more testing.  This day was more challenging.  The first part went fine.  Our troublesome student had to be tested separately, by someone else, that day because he was keeping the other students from completing their tests.  The hardest part was the survey at the end.  There were over 60 questions and each one, and the answer choices, had to be read aloud.  It took forever!  The kids were so done by the end of it.  I headed back home to hang out with my sister.  She had made dinner and some really good cookies.

The next day, Saturday, was the last day of testing.  We were scheduled to be there from 7:30-11:00 (the test was from 8:00-10:30).  I showed up at 7:15 and started getting things ready.  This test had 6 sections with 24 questions in each section.  Each question, and its choices, had to be read aloud.  We had to wait for each student to choose an answer before we moved to a new question.  We tried to give the kids a break between sessions.  This test took forever!  The kids kept asking when it would be over.  The test took even longer than they had it scheduled to take; like 40 minutes longer!  We didn't finished until 11:10.  Then Kerri and I had to stay to "clean up" then answer sheets.  We just had to make sure bubbles were filled in all of the way and that there went any extra pencil marks.  We got out of there at noon.  I headed home to pick up Danielle.

We went to a Thai place for lunch and got way too much food.  Then we headed to the theater and saw the new "Twilight" movie.  It was okay.  It was about the same level as the other ones.  After that, we couldn't figure out what to do, so we decided to explore West Jordan a little.  We walked around "Gardner Village." Then we went to the "District" and visited some of the shops there.  We went to the store and got a few groceries and then got ice cream from Cold Stone.  We went back to my apartment,ate dinner, played some games on the Wii, and watched part of a movie.  It was that point that I was too exhausted to think, so we called it a night.

On Sunday (today), we watched some of my DVDs and some Netflix.  I wasn't feeling that great, so it was sort of a lazy day.  We did set up my Christmas tree.  I decided that since we were leaving before Thanksgiving, I would start setting up for Christmas early.  By the time I get back to town, most people will have started putting Christmas stuff up.  This will save me some time.  Plus, it is always more fun to decorate with other people.  I wanted to do more decorating, but I don't have that much stuff and I am still feeling a lack of energy due to whatever illness I have today.  :(

Tomorrow will be more work.  I will probably pick up Danielle and then we will try to explore the city some more.  We also plan to get some stuff for the long drive ahead of us.  After that it will be packing time.  On Tuesday, she will come to work with me and we will start our drive right after the school day ends.  I am really hoping that we can just drive straight there.  I don't want to drag it out.  I plan on seeing how we will once we get near St. George.  We might have to stop for the night.  We will see.  I am so ready for the holidays.  I can't wait to get through these last two days!

I don't know when I will post again.  Hopefully soon, but you know how life is sometimes.  I hope everyone has fun plans for the holidays and that you all stay safe.  Take care!