Say Hello to Hershal! I've been outside most of the afternoon (it's a beautiful day!) arranging pumpkins and corn shocks while playing with Boss. It's been a nice weekend - Apple festival on Friday night and Ham Days yesterday. I have to say that I was disappointed with the Apple Festival. It made Cow Days look good! Ham Days was enjoyable and it was nice to see Nana for a few minutes along with Josh, Kim, and some of the rest of the family. I am counting down the days now until my Fall Break - only five more to go! After Friday we have a two week break from school and I couldn't be more ready for it! I plan to spend my time enjoying the fall weather and catching up on my online class. This semester I'm taking GTE 536 - Nature and Needs of Gifted Children. After this class is over, I will need three more regular classes plus two practicums to finish my degree. Once completed, I will have a master's degree in Library Media Education as well as an endorsement in Gifted/Talented Education. I am ready to get the classes over with and start getting the pay raise that goes with the degree!! I choose these areas for my master's because they will hopefully give me some options outside of the regular classroom. I'm planning to have everything finished by Christmas '09 but I guess we'll just have to see how it goes... Enough of that - is anybody watching Dancing With the Stars?! I look forward to watching it every Monday - I think my favorite couple this season is going to be either Maks and Misty or Julianne and the young guy (can't remember his name...).

This has definitely been a "Calgon" kind of day! My 27 students seemed to have the weekend running through their veins - absolutely wild! Lile and I are getting ready to go to the Apple Festival in Liberty this afternoon. It should be a nice afternoon and who knows - maybe I'll even get a funnel cake out of the deal! We're also planning to go to Ham Days tomorrow so I hope to see some of the Lebanon crew. I'm looking forward to a nice Fall-ish weekend and now have a seasonal picture to add for a little festive spirit! I need to get Hershal (my scarecrow) put up this weekend also - he's been a tradition for the past 3 years and Halloween just couldn't come without him! Speaking of Halloween, can you believe that the stores are already bypassing Halloween and Thanksgiving in order to fill the shelves with Christmas stuff?! I know that's the way it is every year but it still always shocks me. I better go - Lile will be ready to leave and I'll still be sitting here in my work duds and sock feat.

Here goes...

Well, it looks like I'm starting a blog! I had to create a blog for one of my master's classes and kind of enjoyed it. Now, I think I'll start a blog about things I enjoy rather than just class stuff. I decided to call my blog My Own Little Corner after a song that Mom and I love - it is on the old Rogers and Hammerstein Cinderella movie. Sometimes after a long day - or just a fun day! - this will be a nice way to clear my mind. I'm not sure what I'm going to be writing about since there doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary going on in my life right now. Things are pretty settled and normal. Who knows what may come though? I just may have all sorts of interesting things to gab about! I know that it is now officially fall but I don't have any pumpkin pictures yet so I'll just post this pretty yellow Zinnia - a final farewell to summer.