FSU is not having classes today in observance of Veterans Day, which is fine by me. Instead of doing homework, I spent today organizing computer files and cleaning my room (which tends to get pretty icky, as I direct most of my energies to parts of the house that people besides me actually see) and then went to a Pilates class while Annabelle was in her musical theater class. Then it was pizza for supper and way too much time playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. Soon Annabelle will be in here to watch Glee and Modern Family with me. All in all, a delightful day off.

The kids are out of school tomorrow for Veteran's Day, and I couldn't be happier about it. It's not like their early morning doings demand anything of me--I generally just lie in bed, dispensing fashion advice and signing permission slips as needed, before rolling over and going back to sleep when they head out the door--but I am just thrilled that we will have a day off smack dab in the middle of the week. In fact, I think having Wednesdays off would be great on a permanent basis, even better than a recurring 3-day weekend. Just that little extra time mid-week to catch your breath!

Stetson called today to tell Mike that he has been accepted. This is a great trend he's got going on! Poor thing needed some good news, as he sounds like Darth Vader when he breathes. He stayed home today, and he won't be going to school tomorrow either. Wednesday is a holiday, so we're hoping he'll be well on the road to recovery by Thursday.

This time next week, I'll be pulling my hair out. I have a major paper due in my class right after Thanksgiving, so I'm sure I'll spend the week before Thanksgiving knocking it out. For this week though, I'm in denial and am enjoying the heck out of it. I've been cleaning my room and scanning some old photos and just making order in general. Plus, I had a couple bottles of Glühwein left over from last Christmas (I know! Leftover wine! How sad is that?), and I am slowly working my way through them.

Mike is indeed sick and will not be going to school tomorrow. Annabelle has been very industrious this weekend, having suffered earlier in the week through another all-nighter and being determined not to find herself in that situation again any time soon. She babysat our neighbor's dog this weekend, and I helped, so she is going to take me out to dinner with her earnings. Life is good (except for poor Mike being sick)!

Mike got his first college acceptance today, from Bellarmine in Louisville. Other schools applied to are: FSU, UF, UCF, Stetson, Rollins, Miami, UVA, and Western KY. I don't expect we'll hear from any of the others for a while, but I know he's happy to start seeing results.

He also appears to be coming down with whatever crud is going around. He was a little iffy this morning but went to a friend's house for the afternoon and came home feeling awful. I think he's going to try to sleep it off as best he can. He doesn't want to miss any time in the water this season if he can help it.

Mr. Stinky's bud shriveled up and fell off last week. There are another couple of what appear to be teensy buds trying to make an appearance. We shall see what happens. I fear that it is just too cold and dark up here right now to get one of these bad boys all the way into full bloom.

Annabelle and I went down to E'town tonight to see a touring company's production of To Kill a Mockingbird. Great show! Annabelle and I both left the theater in the mood to re-read the book.

I went to the meeting tonight and got the skinny on what is going on. Bottom line is it'll all work out fine for us; nobody with a deployed soldier will be asked to move before September. By that time, Fred will be home, and we will be long gone from Knox. Others aren't so lucky, and I'm still rather pissed at how the whole thing was handled. Hard to work up a good head of righteous indignation right now though with the news coming out of Fort Hood. I've been watching with relief this evening as friends at Hood come online on Facebook and report in as OK.