Book Give Away Winner: War Dances & Other Events

Congratulations to:
Deanna

I will be contacting you by email for your address so I can get you this lovely hardback book on it's way! At this time of year, I wish I could just pop a little something in the mail to everyone who entered, but let me just say thank you for participating.

In other news, I wanted to give a few updates. First off, my absence is thanks to a pretty hectic week that I didn't anticipate being such. I forgot that we had parent-teacher conferences this week, and my students have been starting pretty major writing projects this week. For some reason, that always spells a lot of work on my part to prep things they need, and some even more intense "help" sessions. It's really satisfying though to see them putting together papers that they are proud of and eager to turn in!

Next, I wanted to report that on Monday I popped in the mail a nice little Book Swap gift for the person I drew. I didn't realize how difficult it can be to buy a book for someone who reads a lot! I looked at their interests, what they've read, and hope this one is a new one for them. Other than my initial anxiety over the book I was going to get them, I was able to pretty much match up things that I thought they might like. I'm hoping they get it soon! Here is a picture of the gift I sent off to them:


Last, I will be participating in the "2009 Virtual Advent Tour" on December 10th. I'm pretty excited about this, and hope you'll stop by to learn more about other book bloggers. I'll be sharing more about my family's new Christmas traditions that we've started in Hawaii. I'm also excited to learn more about wonderful friends, and see how they celebrate the season.

My own decorations are up, and the house feels all warm and cheery. Thankfully, I shop early in the year, which leaves me buying odds and ends by December. I'll be leaving for Hawaii in just a matter of weeks, so until then, I just want it to snow and snow and snow so that I feel like I'm getting that "white" Christmas I grew up with! How about you? What are you hoping for, and how is your holiday shaping up so far? Until next time, aloha!