Monday, March 17, 2008

Spring Break - Wahoo!

It's here! Spring break in all of it's glory! Today the day is crisp and clear and gorgeous spring clouds float by, it's picture perfect...from the inside. I have decided to stay at home and pretend I can't go anywhere and it feels great. I have watched the movie, Emma (a Jane Austin movie with Gweneth Paltrow), read some, stitched some (Bent Creek - Liberty,) cleaned some and made bread. Yep, I have a good start to this Spring Break week. I just don't want it to go too fast!

Unfortunately Rich got the flu this weekend so we all laid low. We had planned on several outside projects but although I felt so bad for him I wasn't too sad to kick back and relax. I managed to spend some time with a book and finished Playing for Pizza by John Grisham. It was a fun Saturday diversion that made me hungry for Italian food and football. It seemed a wide reach from his legalistic tomes but I enjoyed the escape. I would give it a 3.5/5. Now I am trying to decide which mystery to start for the March Mystery Madness that we are doing for book group. I have several calling my name, and one literally called from the library. The automatic reservation called and told me that Murder on the Rocks is in. Great timing!

Work news is a little unsettling. It seems that the budget cuts the district must undergo ($20 million this next year) combined with the new ELD law that Arizona must institute means that I may be the candidate chosen to teach a K/1 combo of non English speaking students. Wow! I do love working with the ELL kiddos but I never dreamed of having to do a combo class again much less a K/1 combo! And I thought that it was a jump to come from 5th grade to 1st grade. Now this! yikes. I do love 1st grade and I know that after 3 years there I am making a difference and getting good at it. It seems that my career is taking more twists and turns than I ever thought possible. It looks like LOTS of changes! I look back on my choice of word for the year - Stretch - in a different way now. Is it self-fulfilling prophecy?!?! I sure will be stretching! The only Kinder experience I have is raising my own little ones and the experience that I have had in church!Boy, all those years of service in primary, scouts, and young women sure has paid off in big dividends. I am so very grateful for a job though - remind of this later!

Our cruise is just around the corner. Rather than getting excited I seem to be getting a little anxious with all of the things to do. Sub plans, home plans, packing, trip arrangements and taxes all need to be done before we head off. I also need to get some cruise clothes that will work in equatorial weather as well as dress up stuff. Woe is me... shopping. Poor thing! Aren't life experiences grand? It's amazing to think back to what I was doing last year at this time. Being involved with the trial was an everyday experience, emotions were bottled up and I worked on the trial right through Spring Break. It was so emotional, difficult and isolating - I felt like I was stuck in a CSI episode. I am so grateful to be enjoying this madness and miracle of March instead!!Gosh I can almost hear the ocean now - oops, that's just the washing machine!

My UA Wildcats have made it through the selection process of the NCAA March Madness. I really didn't even think it would happen after a pretty dismal year. Thank heavens for a tough schedule. It always makes March fun to think of playoff basketball. I think I will get out the NCAA game when we won the championship just to remind me how fun it can be!! Go Wildcats!

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