It's the most Random Time of the Year??

Wonderful?  Random?  Those two seem to go together sometimes don't they?  Well, let's just say yes and get through this randomness shall we?

Ok--since the giveaway day post I've:
--Slaved away in the Santa Shop.  I'm wondering if there are labor laws for elves...  But really, I worked every day in our shop at school where we sell low-priced items for kids to buy for their families.  We live in a rural area with not much shopping other than Walmart and the Dollar Tree, so while we sell basically the same goods as those stores (as in the same things...) it give the kids a chance to buy gifts for their family members "on their own."  Some of the kids really enjoy the thought of doing their own shopping.  And some kids just buy stuff for themselves...

--Attended UF's graduation (Go Gators!) where Chris was honored as Distinguished Educator in Florida.  There were only 5 teachers in the state recognized.  They had to wear gowns and sit on the stage throughout the graduation.  But before the students were announced, each teacher was given a special plaque and the dean of the college of education read a little thing about each of them.  Chris HATES these kind of things.  He's the kind of person that says just let me do my thing the best I can and leave me alone.  I chose this pixellated photo from the jumbo-tron to show you because you can see where it says cheers and applause.  That's not the prompter telling people to applaud, that's the closed captioning telling you everyone was!  They announced that Chris has a near perfect pass rate on the AP World History class that he teaches and that, my friends, is a really big deal.  I am so proud of him and how hard he works, so to see others recognize him was so special.

Then we had lunch in the President's Suite at the stadium.  You know, no big deal, just lunch in one of the swankiest places at the university...  It was pretty cool.  :)

--Attended multiple karate classes with Oren.  He's learning fast now.  And loving it.  Chris was with Emma at pitching lessons.  Who knew the schedule filled up so quickly??
--Made HUGE progress on the quilt for my Dad.  I've got to have it done by tomorrow night...
--Made lots of Christmas goodies for the kids' teachers--spiced pecans, chocolate crinkles, cranberry-orange-pistachio rollups, thin mint Puppy Chow...and probably gained 5 pounds by sampling.  ;)
--Not run--at all.
--Went on a field trip to a local farm with Oren's class.  Yes, this is his second field trip this year to local farms.  Yes, we do live in a rural area.  Yes, many of our children are already familiar with things on a farm.  It makes me laugh.

Best part of the trip for Oren?  The hay fight.  Seriously...

--Watched Chris be named Teacher of the Year for his school.  Again, he hates this kind of recognition so to get 2 honors in less than a week made all of us giggle at his discomfort.  ;)

--Started quilting Dad's quilt.  I'm 3/4 of the way done.

--Slept like a rock every single night.

--Wondered how important sleep really is??  

--Wondered if I'd bought gifts for my entire family but not sat still long enough to make sure...

--Planned how organized I'm going to be next year when this time of year comes along. 

--Then laughed knowing I won't be organized then either.

--Thanked God for every second of this crazy, busy, full-to-the-brim life.

What have you been up to??