Celebration 11/30

This is a fabulous idea from Ruth Ayres in which we write about something to celebrate each Saturday. I am looking forward to participating in this link up each week and hearing about the awesome things happening in everyone's classrooms and lives.

I cannot believe that it is already the end of November.  The first trimester at school flew by! I like the way our school year worked out and it is nice to be starting a new trimester when we get back from Thanksgiving break.

One of the best things and the worst things I did recently is to order a Caramel Apple Pie from a fundraiser.  There is this great Wisconsin bakery that makes amazing pies.  This one was fantastic, but a bit overwhelming.  Elegant Farmer makes pies in a bag which they claim is the best way to bake them. This pie was the BEST pie I have ever eaten.  I will say that it is almost impossible to cut and is extremely rich so I could only eat a little at a time.  The reason it was a bad idea is that my husband does not have much of a sweet tooth so I am the only one eating most of the pie.  

I am celebrating a relaxing Thanksgiving at home with my husband.  We decided earlier this fall that the thing we wanted most was a nice long weekend to read and relax.  I made us some treats that we hadn't had in a while.  We're not big fans of the turkey and fixings meal.  One of our favorite treats, which I had never actually made for just the two of us, is croquetas.  These are a spanish tapa and take a while to make, but they are amazing.  We had fun wolfing down the plate of goodies.  

Reading, reading, and more reading.  I have been able to just sit and read for much of the last two days. It is nice to be able to do this and to know that I still will have time to do the work I need to get done today and tomorrow.  I finished Reading in the Wild on Thursday and have some great ideas of how to make some changes in my reading workshop.  I love how a good professional book can both validate the practices you do and challenge you to improve.  

I am starting to look forward to our trip to Spain at Christmas.  I have not been to see my in-laws for the entire four years that Ramon was in school.  We just couldn't afford it and he was able to travel at times that were less expensive because of his university breaks.  As we get closer to Christmas this anticipation is something to celebrate as well.  

Last, but not least, I am celebrating my PLN and the inspiration I get from Twitter.  I had so much fun following the conversation started by Colby Sharp and Franki Sibberson about making commitments to resolutions.  It quickly went from people talking about needing to do something to a conversation in which many people made resolutions to start a new habit (writing regularly, doing 100 push-ups each day, walking, running, etc).  Each person had something they wanted to do.  I love the inspiration to resolve to do something for the next 50 days.  I was inspired by the #nerdlution movement and will be resolving to exercise and write every day.  I even got a fitbit pedometer to help me track my fitness goals.  

What do you have to celebrate this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments!