Gird Your Loins

• Week long Thanksgiving vacation just makes me antsy for Christmas break.
• Principals have to have walk-throughs started and completed for the semester in the next three weeks. (Are you kidding me? They always do this stupid crap in the month of December.)
• Our lesson plans have been re-invented so many times, I just don't know what is up anymore.
• Our students are taking benchmark tests next Friday. I'm nowhere near finished with the curriculum, but we're going to test them anyway. Because the county says so.
• Our boys made it to semifinals: Prep is thrilled! The game was almost six hours away Friday night - so close to Jacksonville that you could see the airport if you stood up on the top of the stadium seats. My dad went to the game and kept calling us here with updates. He had a great time - Prep said he sat right in front of the cheerleaders, but the game was so exciting, he nearly forgot to watch her and stood up and watched the football game instead.
• One of the boys in the upper school died Saturday night. He had Ewing sarcoma and had suffered for several years. This has really hit me hard - I don't know why - but this boy was the baby of his family and I keep looking around at BrownBear and wondering what I would have done if this had been her. He was a 10th grader. Just keep him and his parents and his big sister in your prayers. And the entire upper school. Tomorrow is gong to be a tough day at school.
• Fifteen school days until I can return to this perch on the couch.