It's that time of year, again! Bowling time! I didn't bowl last year, but X-Factor reunited this winter and we're kicking some butt. We beat an undefeated team Monday night (I had a few strikes, and my teammate Stephanie was on fuego! We actually did better than the fellas!) and the week before I almost beat my brother! Almost...someday.

We finally got my birthday Herman Miller desk delivered, and it's glorious. I have a place to work and my papers and textbooks are finally off of the kitchen table. Trevor is very happy about that. He also hooked up my printer (another birthday gift, finally used 3 months later) and I can now wirelessly print students' late papers from bed; it's terrific. We also set up our new fabulous lamp (see picture below), which is excellent, and our next project is the kitchen. Though our timeline is fuzzy...

Oh, right, and we're also planning a wedding! HA! We've got a date, and as soon as we have a tete-a-tete with Mrs. S. Hunter, we'll be sending out some save-the-dates. It's all coming along. We're in discussions with a photographer and a d.j., and hopefully this weekend we'll get to talking to some caterers! All exciting stuff. We had a meet-the-parents dinner on Saturday night, and my parents, Trevor's pop and step-mom, his brother Sean and his fiance Angie, my brother and wife, and my grandma all got together to break some bread, eat some tapas, and chat. The evening was a suceess, and when Paula sends me the pictures, I'll post them up here!

Until later, stay warm, true believers. It's damn cold outside.

School started back up for me this week. I had my first class this morning; I've only got one this week at my downtown university, and my community colleges start up next week. It's a nice way to get back into gear. This morning's class was packed to the gills with 34 showing up out of the 38 enrolled. But they were bright and perky at 7:45 a.m., and I hope it lasts! I finally "filed" away the fall semester's final portfolios (photo above) just in case any of my students would like them back. I mailed back a few, and I've already earmarked some to use as examples this new semester if they're not picked up. At least this semester I'll have 30-ish less to grade, which is nice.

In other news, Henry met my friend Lisa's pooch, LuLu Belle, for the first time this past weekend at the dog park, and they seemed to hit it off nicely. Here's a picture of them playing:

There were a few really aggressive fellows there early on, but once their owners got wise to my low tolerance for shennanigans, they skeedaddled. And good riddance to them. We hadn't been to the dog park in quite some time, since Henry's been so fond of plain-old fetch-in-the-park as of late. But it was nice to see him frollicking with the other dogs.

Trevor and I also got an engagement ring this past weekend. We went to the jeweler that his brother Sean and fiancee Angie went to for their engagement ring, and the woman who helped us was terrific. She took my grandma's stone to set, and she's also fixing my gram's original engagement ring for free (the bottom was a bit bent up), which is really nice because it's a beautiful, delicate thing, and it's about 70 years old now, so it'll be fixed up and looking just as lovely as when my grandma wore it. Hopefully I'll be able to pick the ring up tomorrow or Wednesday. I can't wait to flash it around town!

IT'S OFFICIAL...
...We're engaged!

Trevor and I went to Door County for the New Year's weekend to visit his step-dad, Jim, and his grandparents, Mel and Margaret Madel. The five of us went to a lovely dinner at the Stone Harbor restaurant, where we all ate too much, then Trevor and I went back to Jim's house (where we were staying--Jim's dog, Vader, and Henry are best friends) to change out of our fancy duds before going to the Madel's to watch a movie. We got to the Madels, Trevor turned off the car and asked me to marry him! It was terribly romantic--just hours before the new year, the waves of Lake Michigan crashing yards away, our bellies full of food and both of us content and relaxed (Well, I was terribly relaxed. Trevor might not have been so at ease)--and of course I said yes. It was nice to share it first with the Madels, but now that we're back in town, we've got to spread the word! We drove back this afternoon (after stopping at the Sturgeon Bay Public Library, where Mr. Madel volunteers, to pick up a few books from the books-for-sale section; Trevor found two hard cover Vonneguts for his collection, and I found a first edition Chuck Palahniuk, a mass market paperback of The Pentagon Papers, and a brides and showers book from the 60s [I really couldn't resist, especially given its hot-pink themed cover, full with foxy gal in a pink mini-skirt and matching sweater...]) and went to the Bork's to have dinner with my folks and pick up my Grandma Bork's engagement ring and some other jewelry of hers (Trevor gave me a "place holder"--a sterling silver diamond solitaire silhouette ring we saw in Portland last July), and we're finally back home, unpacked, with an exhausted Henry, a hamper full of dirty clothes, and a great excuse to finally drink the champagne I got from the Nybergs for my birthday. Quite a weekend, and a lovely kick-off to the new year!

We'll be back with more picture from this weekend, and maybe some more wedding updates, so stay tuned!

Bork-Power