Post It Tuesday

I'm a Survivor!

YAY!!!  I did it!!!  I have to admit, my theme for the challenge was a last minute decision.  I was going to go completely random this year, but at the last minute decided on The Great Smoky Mountains National Park  (and a few surrounding areas!).  I really enjoyed it, and appreciate the positive feedback I received.  It helped me rediscover "my" mountains, and find a couple of places that I need to visit.  The Park Service can thank me by giving me a free "pass for life"!  (Just kidding...the park is free anyway!)

My only regret is that this challenge comes at the end of the school year, when things are really crazy and everybody is tired.  I didn't have a chance to visit other bloggers, unless they visited me and left a comment.  I made sure I returned the gesture.  Hopefully in the next couple of weeks (after school is done for the year), I can go through and read some posts.
I started following a couple of new blogs:  Lexa Cain describes herself as "A Horror and Dark Fantasy Writer"; she lived in Egypt for 20 years.  Her theme was hauntings, and there were quite a few that brought chill bumps.  Very interesting!
Another blogger I started following is Battered Hope. I was drawn to her blog because she is a HUGE dog person.  I hope to delve more into her blog once school is out and I have some time.

If you were part of the challenge, how did you do?  How did you decide what theme to use?

Friday Fragments

On top of hosting the "Friday Frags", Mrs. 4444 is hosting a huge giveaway!  Just click on the button to see what all she has in store, and to enter.

~Another week down...another week closer to summer break!  This has been such a rough year, y'all.  I'm ready for it to be over so I can get some rest and forget about my job for a while.

~Tuesday is Election Day around here.  We have a big referendum on the ballot that will allow the County Schools (where I work) to get their share of the sales tax that both of the city schools are getting.  Unfortunately, there are some people who don't understand that the city schools are getting their share...and our share.  I've heard stories of people saying they're going to vote against it because they don't want their taxes to increase, then walk into stores/restaurants in the cities limits, not realizing that they're already paying it...and contributing to the city schools.

~  Election Day also means a day off!  

~  No camping this weekend.  I have a flute choir concert Saturday afternoon.  We have another concert next Thursday, too.  The one Sat. is a "private" concert, but the one next week is open to everybody.  As much as I love it, it'll be nice to not have anywhere to go on Thursday evenings.

~  I had a 2 hour dinner with my "special ed ladies".  We used to meet once/month for dinner, but things have been so crazy with all of us this year, we've only managed to meet a couple of times.  I ran into a friend from grade/middle/high school, and a coworker, AND a friend.  I never run into people I know when I'm at a restaurant, so the ladies I was with last night thought I was really popular!

~ A friend posted a picture of this little sweetie on Facebook the other day:

Isn't she just the cutest?  Look at those sweet eyes.  We need another dog like we need a hole in the head, but something about her is tugging at my heartstrings.  It may be that she's almost the exact opposite of Laika (she's white where Laika is black), but I may have to take a trip to the shelter to see if anyone's claimed her.  If not, I just may have to throw my hat in the ring for her.

~  No "Picture of the Week" from OS this week...guess he was busy.  

Have a fantastic, restful weekend!