Love this picture of Allison and my mutt, Dixie. This was the same day that Dixie got groomed. She looked so cute all shaved and fixed up! Allison enjoyed snuggling with Dixie after she got home. It was pretty cute how she was being a mother hen!

Well, things are a little rocky again on the homefront. The people that own the house we are renting have decided once again that they want to move back into it before the end of the school year. That puts us out Jan. 15th. The realtor that manages the house is trying to get the lease extended until May 31st. I don't look for them to sign the extension. So, we will probably be moving in the next couple of months. It sucks too. We are just really unsure what to do. We have thought about moving down towards Austin or Houston. There are jobs out the wazoo for Mikedown there. He figures he'd make a little more than he makes here but without the company truck and the benefits of having that truck. So, I guess either way you look at it he's making out about the same. We won't have the truck payment or gas bill if he stays at this job. I think he figured that saved about $8,500 per year. That's quite a lot! But, at another job he'd get better benefits. It's really a toss up. We just don't know what to do and we are really putting a lot of pressure on ourselves. We also figure that if we stay here we wouldn't need our personal truck. If we sold that we'd be able to pay some things off. So, the question is.....What do we do? Well, we're not sure. Maybe this house thing is a blessing in disguise and God's way of telling us what we need to do and where we need to be. I hope that we make a decision soon. I have felt like I have been in limbo for quite some time. So has Mike. I hope we can make a decision soon!

In the teaching world, I have decided that sometimes when you reinvent the wheel it can be a good thing or a bad thing. If I am the one reinventing the wheel that I can't complain about it later. I can deal with that because I did it to myself. But, on the other hand, it really irks me when somebody reinvents the wheel for me. Long story short.....

We have a lady at work that is the TAKS coach. She gets stuff together for us to teach during our Power Hour time. (This is about a 35 minute time period when we work with our ability grouped kids on specific skills and concepts.) Almost all of the time she gets us our materials at the last minute or even late. It sucks to have to plan this stuff at the last minute. That's beside the point though. Well, today, she basically told us to chunk our plans for the rest of the week. We would be doing a TAKS reading passage. And then got upset when we questioned if we could wait until next week to start. Now, for those of you who don't know, it takes about 30 -45 minutes to do a passage if the kids use all the strategies they are taught to answer the questions to the passage. Well, I gave the test and of course my kiddos didn't finish. I didn't expect them to. They'll finish tomorrow. I guess my frustration lies in the fact that we don't have a plan. Or at least one that makes sense to me. (I am not the only one who feels that way either!) I feel like we are spinning our wheels and not getting a lot accomplished. We will meet as a grade level on Monday. I hope we get some of this resolved. I am sure so. I just hope it goes well! ;)

I'll keep you updated as I get things figured out. Cross your fingers for me and say a little prayer! Later guys!