White Elephants & Pink Flamingos

This week promises one of my favorite events of the year at work: The White Elephant Gift Exchange.

Each year, I try my hardest to find a gift that will warrant the most laughs. I felt the most success with my gift from last year. I wrapped it in the prettiest of paper with a lovely bow on top........to ensure that someone would really want it, based on it's outward appearance. The gift did not disappoint. The laughs were aplenty. It was, after all, an autographed, framed photo of myself......a school picture, nonetheless.......with "To my biggest fan......Love, Danavee" scrawled across the bottom. It ended up perched on a shelf in the front office for quite some time.

Now how do you beat that?

You go to the Salvation Army.

There were many great options to choose from...........such as:

Yes, this bike seat was a great choice, but a little pricey at almost $7.00. I kept on hunting. Soon after, I eyeballed this beauty:

This lamp was a perfect choice, but alas, I had no light bulb to test! How could I be sure that it worked? I decided to keep searching.

While wandering the aisles, we did get a bit sidetracked. Whitney and I decided that not only might there be a white elephant gift out there, but also potential fashion options for US! Amidst the racks of skirts, sweaters, and shoes, my partner in crime was overcome at the sight of a fur collar. There's something about fur that brings the animal out in people. It was her color.


After the fashion show, we decided that we had to buckle down and get SERIOUS about this shopping excursion!

And that's when it happened! The perfect item came into view! The big question was, "Will it work?" I frantically searched for an outlet...........and TA DA!


And as sure as flamingos are pink, this sucker WORKED! And it was MINE!

Dragons

At an assembly about animals and habitats, I experienced my favorite moment of the day! The guy was up there doing his thing, and questioned the audience (made up of 8 to 10 year olds). He asked, "Can you name a reptile that is now extinct?"

All I heard was, "Dragons!"

That was the best thing about my day.

Things I'm happy about::

1. Spring break is in five weeks. Then after that? Only 7 more weeks of school. Although I really love my class this year, summer is always welcome.

2. I went shopping for the first time in 2009 yesterday. I held out on my resolution for almost 2 months, but when you have a card for free underwear at V. Secret, you go get free underwear. Then you buy more. Then you go to other stores. Then you spend money in those other stores. It was Valentine's Day. I'm entitled to buy a present for myself, right? I promise to make it another two months without going to the mall.

3. I get to go to Dallas in four weeks. Granted, it's with the high school band, but it is free! And I haven't gone anywhere for about two years! I get to see the King Tut exhibit, and I'm pretty excited about that.

4. I joined a gym. Seriously. This is huge. Now I just need to start going!

5. Lots of good shows are on TV right now. Survivor, Amazing Race, The Bachelor, CSI, and American Idol. How can I get to the gym when there's all this viewing pleasure on TV?

6. The digital transition has been pushed back. I am very happy about that because I have NO converter box and NO cable. I do have a digital TV, but I don't think that's enough. I don't really understand it all, but now I'm assured that I can watch The Bachelor without interruption, and that I have a little more time to figure out this digital transition business.

7. Towing is covered in my insurance. That's a must, I've discovered. And I'm thankful for it.

8. I have some really great people in my life. People who really get me. People I really enjoy. People I couldn't imagine NOT having in my life. Friends and family.

9. I am cleaning my "walk in closet" today. Also known as my second bedroom. I have three bedrooms. Two out of the three are consistently closed off to any guests that may stop by. One has turned into a storage area. The other turned into a walk in closet. Both are pretty bad. I plan on fixing ONE of them today.

10. I moved up to medium difficulty on Guitar Hero. Enough said.

A Letter From a Fourth Grader

You know, sometimes you just need a little pick-me-up. You can always count on fourth graders to give you exactly what you need, exactly when you need it.

Is it any coincidence that I joined a gym last night? Hmmmm........

*Identifying details were strategically cropped out to protect the innocent. On a side note, we ARE studying friendly letters. I'm extremely proud to say, this student has the format down pat!