A side note: I checked my grades for the fall semester and was quite pleased. That made me feel a little better.

The uke party on Saturday night was fun. I wound up with a bag full of chocolates. (My mom wanted to know who thought chocolate was a useless gift.) The funniest gift was a toilet seat that had Christmas lights strung all around. I got to play Christmas carols on the piano, so that was fun for me. I also got my highest score ever on our pinball machine. Yay! A good time was had by all.

Sunday morning was the children's Christmas program. Both performances went really well! We had a few kids in tears, one crisis, but all turned out right in the end. Everyone got their lines right and there weren't any problems during the service. David came to the later service, and discussed his thoughts on the program on his page. After the service, I had to rush home and get ready for the Christmas party that I gave for my students. All of my students were able to attend. We had a good time, and I even got some Christmas presents from some of them! One made me a blanket, one gave me a bracelet, another gave me a pretty box and another gave me a check.

Last night, we were at David's church for youth. For one of the activities, we made a snowman ornament, which was fun. We also had to look at pictures and try to guess the song or Christmas phrase depicted in the picture. Some of the pictures were very cheesy, others were hard to figure out. During the praise and worship portion of the evening, one of the other adults told me that I should play the drums. I told him that it wasn't turned on (it's an electronic set), so he went and turned it on and handed me the sticks. So I was jamming. The guys playing the guitars in front of me turned around once they heard the drums. They smiled and turned back around. I was having a good time. David said that he couldn't see me over the cymbals, I was pretty much hidden behind the drum set.

Sigh. Well, I think I am going to go sleep for awhile.

This morning was the dress rehearsal for the children's Christmas program, which we perform tomorrow. The kids did a really great job during the rehearsal, and they all remembered their lines and the words to the songs! The three of us that make up the band, (piano, drums and bass guitar) had agreed last Sunday to come to rehearsal thirty minutes before the rehearsal started and go through everything together. Well, I started the morning off on the wrong foot, when my alarm didn't go off this morning. I woke up at five after seven, and was supposed to be at church at seven-thirty. So I had to run around like a chicken with my head cut off to make it on time, but I did. Which turned out to be useless, because the doors were all locked when I got there, so I was walking around the church, trying to find an open door. Someone had found an unlocked door somewhere else, and saw me wandering around, and let me into the church.

It was just as cold at the drumset as it was outside! I was excited when they told me they needed a drum set player. Since Suzi usually directs the kids, while I play the piano that meant I could do drums, since we had someone playing piano for the program. Brrr! Oh well, once I started playing, I forgot all about being cold. The kids looked so cute in their costumes! The choir kids have actual costumes, either a shepherd, an angel or a wise man. A couple of them are supposed to be in the present day, so they'll just wear normal church clothes. Their costumes are based on whatever their speaking part is. The Sunday school kids are either wearing a halo, a shepherd's head covering or a crown. After everyone was in their proper attire, we ran the whole program. We then practiced walking out and walking in. I think it's going to be great! Today at rehearsal, we had parents taking pictures and shooting videos. I hope someone does a video tomorrow, because I'd really like one. It's hard to see what's happening in front, when I am sitting behind the drums.

Tomorrow is also my Christmas party for my piano students. I've never done a Christmas party for them, but we figured since the house would be really clean, I might as well have one. I will also be taking pictures of that, and will post those on my web site as well. It's going to be a crazy weekend, but Monday, I have nothing going on. Maybe Heather and I will go out Christmas shopping and have some girl time. Go make it a great day, world, and stay warm!

Today, I had my last exam. Although it was open book and open notes, it was intense. We had two write our own questions for three of the questions, and answer two of them. Another thing my professor liked to ask was for us to design experiments using the information we had in class. I was talking with one of my classmates after the exam, and we had interpreted one of the questions in two totally different ways, and it was interesting to think about how we both approached the question.

Yesterday was a fantabulous day! It was my first day in the Rehabilitation Clinic. It was a busy, but interesting morning. I got to see my supervisor hook up someone to a biofeedback machine. That was really neat. During the afternoon, I was in the Family Medicine clinic. Well, the clinic was closed due to a business meeting, which made it eerily quiet. I went down to the cafeteria for lunch and met some really nice people. I also ordered a book, which is going to be sent to me on a trial basis. (No, not from the nice people that I met and ate lunch with.) It is called Child and Adolescent Mental Health, and I am really excited about getting it. (I know, I'm a dork, if I'm excited about getting a book.) I also went down to the benefits fair and bought some cool toys! I bought a bead kit and something called Fashion Plate, which will be a good white elephant present for the uke party this weekend. The bead kit is also a Christmas present for someone. Anywho, the company I bought the toys from was called Discovery Toys. They had some really cool stuff! Toys are good.

Back to the afternoon, I got some studying done in the clinic. Since it was closed, I wasn't sure if my three-thirty therapy patient was coming in, so I stuck around. It's a good thing I did, because she did show up. I asked my supervisor what to do, since the clinic was closed and my patient was here. She went and asked someone, and it turns out that I couldn't have a session. So, we just sat and visited for twenty minutes, and sent her on her way. Oh well. We shared a peppermint brownie from Starbucks. Those are SO good! Then I came home and studied. Yay.

That brings me back to today. I have a tradition of listening to the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah after my last final of the semester (or the last project I turn in if I don't have a final exam.) So, today was my day to do that. I had it ready to go as I got out of the car this morning, so the minute I got in, I could start it up. Yay! And I even sang along! Yay! I can now relax and have some fun!

Wednesday, Patsy, Julie and I cleaned out the test storeroom at the patient care clinic. It was a lot of work, but with three of us working, we got it done. My shoe came in handy! We were trying to move a couple of shelves and needed a hammer to move the metal arms that held the shelf up. I took off my shoe, and it worked! Yay for being inventive. We also got our new phones on Wednesday. It does all sorts of cool things. I downloaded three ring tones on it, Over the Rainbow, Ride of Valkyries and the theme from Friends. So now I feel cool.

Well, I need to get off my duff and go study. Make it a great day, world!

Friday, David and I headed out to Abilene for his family's Thanksgiving meal, which was on Saturday. I got to visit with some of his family members that I hadn't seen since I first came out to Abilene back in October of last year. I also got reacquainted with David's cousin Rachel, who is now a year and a half and a joy to be around. She and I are buddies now, just think of the things I can teach her. Saturday was the big meal, and Jeffrey and Sam were able to drive in for the festivities, which was really neat. It was a good holiday, and really special.

Yesterday was kind of a frustrating morning. I was in Houston last weekend and missed choir rehearsal with the kids. My assistant was there and did the rehearsal. I had sent out an e-mail to the parents stating that there would be a rehearsal on the 30th, even though they would not have Sunday school, and we would use the extra time to try and run through the whole program. Well, the choir directors for the older choir were out of town, and no one bothered to tell me that the rehearsal was cancelled. Most of my choir kids were there, along with a couple from the older choir. So I wound up doing the rehearsal by myself. For an hour and a half. I was SO ready for the children to go back to their parents. The kids were ready, too. I was so mad at the other directors, though. Somebody should have told me what was going on! Oh well, there's noting I can do about it now. I spent the afternoon helping my parents get the Christmas decorations put up around the house. It looks pretty good, I think. Last night was movie night at youth. I don't know whether it was my frustrating morning or being stressed in general, but I was not in the mood to be social last night. I did enjoy pretending to squirt people with my water gun. It was not filled, so I told the kids to pretend I was really squirting them. I got a few strange looks, but most of the kids were happy to shriek and scream like I was really squirting them.

Today was a good day, I didn't have lab this morning, so I got to sleep in, which was really nice. I had my master's degree plan returned to me today, which means it is ready to file! I also confirmed with the graduate coordinator that I could graduate in May if I had one course left, even though it was not a course require for the National Association of School Psychologist Certification. She said as long as I had sixty hours, I could graduate. Since I will have sixty two as of May, I will graduate. So, mark your calendars on May 8, 2004, as I receive my Master of Science degree, and get hooded! (Although I'll get a bigger hood for my doctorate.) I also got my paper back in my night class, and I got an A on it! Since it is fifty percent of my grade, I was very pleased! Anywho, it is late, I am tired and I am going to bed!

Quote of the Day: "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." -- Albert Einstein