A Quick Update

I'm in the middle of a LONG week of Parent -Teacher conferences.
13 hour days ....
33 students ..... lots of parents!
It's fun to 'connect-the-dots" when I meet everyone.
It's been a hectic week, but it's sure going fast AND making me realize how great Fall Break was. So what am I doing up so late?!?!?
Ahhh, yes, I wanted to show-off a little of where we've been and what we've been doing.

Just a short glimpse back at a few photos from our trip to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama!! You can't see it well, but we had Gator on the menu at the Seafood Market a block away from our son's house! I was a "chicken" that day and opted for something a bit tamer....
(I did try Sushi later that night and loved it!!! I'm such an adventurer.)

Two tired men after paddling in the Gulf for an hour!!
They look cocky but they were worn out!!

The beach was beautiful and always uncrowded. You'd think they were all in school or at work or something! Hurricane Katrina wreaked such havoc in the coastal cities of Biloxi and Gulfport. It's apparent everywhere. All that green in the background used to be hotels and restaurants. Now there are miles of abandoned homes or vacant lots. The Air Force Base, however, was rebuilt and is beautiful. That's one real benefit for our Airman and his wife!

We ended our week-long stay in the south by returning to New Orleans. Our fun journeys took us through the French Quarter and to this bookstore, Faulkner House Books, where William Faulkner lived and wrote. We explored several old and used bookstores in the Quarter and seemed to run into the same people as we tramped from place to place. It was great fun. We drove through the Garden District and explored the Riverwalk and decided that vacations are great things.

I loved it that one of my students made ME a reading log for the break. I took great advantage of it and finally finished a book. Of course I came home with an extra suitcase full as well....oops!

And here's my book companion for the trip.

"Lauren Belfer's panoramic new novel is a love story wrapped around a spy story with a pivotal medical breakthrough at its center. ( I love that sentence!!) A Fierce Radiance begins days after the attack on Pearl Harbor propels the United States into World War II. Claire Shipley, a savvy Life magazine photographer, has been assigned a photo essay on a young father whose life might be saved by the new miracle antibiotic, penicillin. The divorced Claire has a particular interest in the case, both because she is still mourning the death of her 3-year-old daughter from blood poisoning, which the drug might have cured, and because she is drawn to James Stanton, the doctor overseeing its clinical trials." (Oprah.com)

This was a chunskter at over 500 pages, but it read like a breeze. I swear I learned something new on every page and I never wanted to put it down. I thought I was reading Historical fiction when all of the sudden, on page 250, it turned into a mystery! Wow, I didn't see that coming. The plot shifted and my take on the book had to change. I was totally invested in this book and loved most everything about it EXCEPT.... the ending!! Thanks to Jenn for passing along this addicting read.

Yep, Fall Break is over, bring on Halloween!!