I should be . . .

I woke up this morning with a long list of Saturday chores, and happily, I've actually gotten some of them done. However, my Christmas tree is still not decorated, and I've only read 4 research papers! It's that time of the year when my students try to write a research paper, then I take their attempt and let my pen vomit up corrections all over it. This year has overall been a little less painful because of the honors kids, but I still dread going through all the papers, so I will take yet another break from social issues, and famous historical figures and share a story or two.

We went to Michigan a couple of weeks ago, to have a few days of real winter, and also for a conference on Lincoln. Nate found it, and I tagged along. I learned something new about geography - Detroit is actually just across the river from Canada! So the night before we came home, we decided to head across the river to see the view of Detroit from across the border. We went through a tunnel under the river to get to Canada, took a few pictures (that will have to be posted later) of the lovely skyline of Detroit, and headed back to the good old US of A. Problem was, we didn't take our passports for our trip to Michigan, so when it came our turn to talk to the border patrol agent, he was quite displeased that we only had drivers licenses for proof of citizen ship. Here are some of his thoughts:
- why did you come to Canada?
- you are from a border state - don't you know the passport regulations?
- I don't care if Canada let you in with just a drivers license - this is the US and we are at war. Canada can do whatever they want.
-You don't look Iraqi or Iranian, but without a passport, you have to go over to that building and be interrogated to prove that you are American and waste our time, and your time etc. etc.

Nate tried to counter this with the info that he is a teacher and teaches the Constitution, if the guy wants to ask him some questions. Here's his response.

- Anyone can study the Constitution!

Make sure you hear these comments with the appropriate amount of gruff sarcasm and sheer rudeness. Well, he finally decided to just "be nice" and let us go through sans interrogation. Phew. We made it back to the good old USA, and sunny AZ.

Since I missed Thanksgiving, I will just say that turkey was eaten, family visited, and Christmas decorations were freed from the attic. Happy Holidays to all, and hopefully I will get around to posting a little sooner next time!