and...

I made it into the program! I received my acceptance letter on Saturday - four days after I mailed my application in. (I'm wondering if they even read my essay....) In any case, I'm on the path to a new career! Orientation is mid-January and I'll be off and running then with online courses and periodic Saturday sessions as well.

We're nearly ready for Christmas here in the Case home... The tree has been accumulating gifts underneath and there are more to come! What isn't so merry is that Kiff is scheduled for a tonsilectomy on Thursday! We had to schedule it over the Christmas break so she wouldn't miss classes. Poor thing will be recovering in bed for two weeks, they say. Not sure how Christmas morning will go! We'll probably get her set up downstairs somehow. She's a tough cookie, though, and usually rebounds pretty quickly from things like this, so we're not too worried.

My back is still in quite a bit of pain, and it's difficult dealing with the limitations that brings me. I'm going to physical therapy twice a week, and my therapist says I'm progressing. I guess backs take a long time to heal. Lord help me...

I passed!!

My Praxis test results came today (online), and I passed!! That's the standardized test for teachers that proves I know math well enough to teach it at the middle school level. I got 184 out of 200... and passing for Virginia is 163. That's the last thing I needed to submit my application to the Career Switchers program, which I'm doing today!

Woo hoo!

Images of the Season

The stockings were hung on the new mantle with care...

Celebrating Jeff's birthday on the 8th with a romantic candlelit dinner at home

What I get to enjoy every single day!! :) (This adorable little girl is, at the moment, upstairs, throwing a temper tantrum for Leah.... but Leah is handling it very well, I must say!)

Christmas tree in the foyer this year ~ went up yesterday!