Yesterday I visited a second-grade class in Clay County, NC. Where is that, you ask? Well, an hour and a half from Atlanta, an hour and a half from Chattanooga, and an hour and a half from Asheville. Right in the middle. And, not only did this class have a chinchilla, which is an animal that I have never seen in person despite the fact that I read about one all the time in one of my favorite children's books, but they were practicing all of the verses to the 12 days of Christmas. I never can seem to remember all of those verses, there is not enough room in my head for the numbers and their corresponding characters. But, I have done some tabulating of my own and here is...

My year in numbers to date...

155,000 Books
15,000 Students
13,000 Little ears hearing books
400 Hours in car
100 Hours traveling to schools
100 Hours in schools
51 New friends from other states
30 Bootcamp classes
15 Parades
14 Festivals
13 Parties
11 Blog entries
10 Shopping excursions
6 Pageants
5 Hospital fundraisers
4 Golf tournaments
3 Photo shoots
2 Pow wows, 2 concerts, 2 commercials, 2 homemade videos, 1 reality television show
1 Cruise
1 Disney trip
1 Price Is Right appearance
1 Legislative address

...and 1 month until Miss America!

Happy Holidays and see you in Vegas,
Jessica