Wow, it's been forever...
I can't believe it's been over two months since I've posted here. Updates:
- My laptop died, two days before mid-term marks were due. This was also two days before I went to a conference in Minneapolis for IB - extended essays. While initially it seemed that it was a drive issue, it appears that it was a mass failure including the motherboard and the hard drive. I had my documents backed up - thank goodness for the U3 flashdrive - but hadn't caught up on archiving photos. (the flashdrive being too small to include "my pictures" in the backup) The good thing about being married to a computer geek is that we should be able to salvage most of the photos - he's already copied a good chunk of the drive to the Mac's external drive.
- Minneapolis was fun - we went a day early and spent a day (my birthday) at the Mall of America. Could have easily spent the whole 4 days there, if not for that pesky conference, that is. Conference was at the Hilton - not as nice as the Hyatt I was at last year in Reston, VA - and included a spa, which we all went to after our first day at the conference. I had a pedicure, which still looks decent - only slightly worn at the tips of my toenails, and just a bit of a gap where my nails have grown away from the cuticle. Consumed way too much alcohol on my birthday - but it was fun being able to let go & not worry about getting home, or taking care of Sonja. Actually learned things at the conference, too - can actually answer students' (and teachers'!) questions about the extended essay now.
- My grade twelves are finally finished ... they wrote their biology exam this week. I've been supervising lots of exams (not biology, IB rules) and will be going in tomorrow on the holiday to help out with Math. I am happy to see the end of those classes - some of them had been with me since Jan 07, and that's a long, long time. I am down to just my grade tens, which is a nice break, at least until I start marking the exams that come in this week. 176 exams from FL, SC, CA, VA, MN and Costa Rica...
- We went to my niece's first communion at the beginning of the month - got permission to take a sick day & make it a long weekend, which is nice considering it's a 5 hour drive to PA from here. OMG, it was like a wedding or something. All the little girls with their long white dresses & veils & hair done up & my niece even had a mani/pedi the day before. (though, that was probably my SIL's influence more than anything). What an extravaganza! The fun part? Watching my MIL & my SIL's MIL trying to share a kitchen... and my SIL & MIL getting aggravated with each other and coming to me with their complaints.
- As little time as I have been spending on LJ... I am spending tons on Facebook. Not stalking people I used to know, but playing Scrabulous. Damn, it's addictive!
- Saw Prince Caspian Friday night ... it's really good. Of course, I didn't read the book, so I can't compare, but I quite liked the movie.