Strange Week

Man, the week really flies when you have one holiday and one sick day :) I can't believe it's already almost Friday. It has been an interesting week.

Tuesday was Veteran's Day, so the banks were closed. I have a tendency to over-plan when I have some free time, and this week was no different. I woke up in the morning and headed down to the school where my brother-in-law works so that I could watch him teach. I've been wanting to do that for a long time, but of course I'm always at work when he is. So I took advantage of the odd day off to make a visit. The morning started off with a Veteran's Day Assembly. I expected to get emotional, because that's just how I am when I hear about or pay tribute to the men and women who serve our country in the armed forces. Now that Matt has entered the Army ROTC, it only brings it that much closer to home.

Anyway, it was an incredible experience. They had a veteran speak that had been deployed to Afghanistan right after September 11th, and his story was truly heroic. What really got me about the program though is when the 4th graders sang an armed forces medley...singing each of the branch's songs and asking veterans of each branch to stand when they heard their song. The Army was the first song sung, and most of the vets were from the Army. This old man stood up, and you could just see that he was touched hearing a song so close to his heart. Throughout the whole assembly I saw him wiping away tears with a hankie. Looking at him reminded me what it is to be patriotic. Like I said, it was just a very neat experience to be there for.

Then I got to sit in on two of my brother's classes. That was so fun! I always think it's interesting to observe someone you know in an arena in which you don't usually see them. Does that make sense? I've helped him grade some tests before, and so it was also fun to see the kids whose writing I'd read.

I left from the school to meet Ashley for lunch. Does anyone else absolutely love Arctic Circle? I've decided fries were only meant to be eaten with fry sauce...

Then I ran to my dad's office to help his secretary with some stuff and then headed to Jessica's doctor's appointment. Talk about something amazing! The doctor let me find the heart beat on the baby. How neat! I almost cried. Lol but that shouldn't surprise you coming from this bawl baby.

I had YW that night to round off a thoroughly eventful day. Wednesday was nothing spectacular until Book Club. Have any of you read Wuthering Heights? Everyone told me to be prepared for it to be a dark story, and it is. I'm only about halfway through, and although I dislike the characters AND the storyline, I'm enjoying reading the book. During Book Club we talked about that and how this story is just so different than any other you'll read, and I think that's why I like it so much. I'm so fascinated at the uniqueness of it all. I guess that's the whole point of a book club though, right? Forcing you to not only understand what you're reading but what you THINK about what you're reading. I'll let you know my overall thoughts when I finish the book.

This morning I woke up feeling crappy and called in sick to work. I stayed in bed until at least noon and then forced myself to do something. It worked out well because I got my room clean, which it desperately needed. And now after watching a fabulously entertaining episode of The Office, I think I'll get ready for bed.