Quick Successions: New Mexico Edition

I made a cake for my professor that looks like the textbook that he wrote. He was very impressed. His name is Michael Tunnell. He is an award-winning children's book author and a two-time member of the Newberry Committee. He has been one of my favorite professors in this program. I look a little haggard because it was finals week and Brian was in the middle of having surgery and I had to come to campus for finals.

We spent Christmas at our house this year because Brian was recovering from surgery. Christmases at home are always so relaxing. I got a new wedding band for Christmas. I lost my old one and I don't even know where.

Here is me at the grave of Benjamin Rush, a signer of the declaration of independence and apparently my relation. He is in the same cemetery as Benjamin Franklin. Chelsea and I went on a tour of Christ's Church Cemetery while we were in Phily. It was a really good tour. The top picture is of the inside of Christ's Church, where Grandpa Ben went to church. He sat on the right side looking forward at the front of the church.

My colleague Chelsea and I went to Phily in November so we could attend a conference. It was very fun. We got to go to a session with Julie Andrews and we also got me meet some other authors like Matthew and Jennifer Holm who do my favorite series, Babymouse. Here are some picks of us having fun. The top picture is one of Chelsea and I. The bottom one is at the famous Reading Terminal Market where I went to eat lunch with Chelsea and some friends from Georgia. It was so crazy. There were so many people.

Here lies my most recent pair of glasses. I have had prescription eyeglasses since I was in seventh grade. I probably needed them with I was in fifth or sixth. I started wearing contacts in tenth grade. Over the years my prescription slipped to about 20/500. I decided to have laser vision correction. I had to wear my glasses for a little over three weeks while the blood vessels that had grown on my eyes from contact lens wear, dissappated and my tear ducts started working optimally again. They performed the surgery in Salt Lake on Thursday. I got to hold a teddy bear while they cut open my eyes and shot a laser into them. When they finished, my vision was 20/30. People told me that it would not hurt, but it did after the numbing drops wore off and my eyes were extremely light sensitive. It was so painful. I took some pain medicaton and went to bed and when I woke up 12 hours later, I felt amazing. And even better, I could see. When I went to the doctor 22 hours after the surgery for a ...

I have many fun colleagues at work. This is another English teacher at our school. Today was dress up like a student day for teachers and dress up like a teacher day for students. We are skaters. I think we totally pulled it off.

Since I have been a first year teacher, some of the students every year try to dress like me. I used to be embarrassed and avoid it. But I have come to embrace those days when I share a shirt with a student. Since this is spirit week, this student and I both have tennis jerseys. She wasn't trying though, it was just good luck.