Monday, August 30, 2004

First Day of School

1.  My husband messed up the alarm clock and it went off at  4:45 instead of 5:45, so I've been awake for awhile.

2.  I get a daily dose of contemplative readings via email.  Many days I don't even glance at them, but I did this morning, and here's what I found -- exactly what I needed:

"In the muddled mess of this world, in the confusion and boredom and amazement, we ought to be able to spot something — an event, a person, a memory, an act, a turning of the soul, the flash of bright wings, the surprise of sweet compassion — somewhere we ought to pick out a glory to celebrate."  — Samuel H. Miller in The Dilemma of Modern Belief

3.  One of my honors students from last year came up to me in the hall to tell me that he's in AP English this year and feels well-prepared for the writing, in large part thanks to me.  (Yes!  Celebrate!)

4.  One of the 8th grade boys told me that his older sisters had told him that he would learn a LOT of history in my class.  (Yes!  Again!)

5.  As I was leaving school, my sweet daughter, who had driven to soccer practice (a half-hour trip) all by herself for the very first time, called to tell me that she had just locked her keys in the car.  MY keys, to be precise -- meaning that I could be of no help to her.  Her dad had to drive out there from his job -- an hour's one-way trip for him.  OK-- so that wasn't one to celebrate.

6.  And as I was arriving for my first night of my grad school class, she called again, this time to tell me tearfully that she had done the OTHER thing I had warned her about on this grey and rainy day -- she had left the lights on and the battery was dead.  Hmmm....the day was falling apart there.

7.  There was a football game going on at her school so she was able to find someone with jumper cables and get home on her own without further incident.  (Yes!  Now we can celebrate!)

All in all, not a bad day.  But I am sort of tired.

 

Walked: 3 miles.


 

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What an action packed day!

Anonymous said...

What a long day.... teaching and parenting followed by an evening class!  I'm glad it went well though.  What great feed back you're getting on your teaching too.  That must be very rewarding.  LOL! on your daughter's "car" problems.  I bet it'll be a long time before she makes either mistake again.

Anonymous said...

Much to celebrate with the compliments of your students -- you are making a difference!!    LOL about the new driver.     Perhaps she needs a AAA card for Christmas.   :)

Anonymous said...

"5.  As I was leaving school, my sweet daughter, who had driven to soccer practice (a half-hour trip) all by herself for the very first time, called to tell me that she had just locked her keys in the car.  MY keys, to be precise -- meaning that I could be of no help to her.  Her dad had to drive out there from his job -- an hour's one-way trip for him.  OK-- so that wasn't one to celebrate."

Uh oh.  Boy can I relate to this one!  My advice, get SEVERAL extra sets of car keys made.  You guys are gonna need 'em!  

Anonymous said...

I second Kathryn's suggestion of a AAA card for Christmas! Also, I just saw this tip somewhere, not sure how really safe it would be, but it suggested you put a spare key behind your license plate, using the screw for the plate as the screw through the keyhole, as well. Of course, then you would need a screwdriver to get your key, but hey, it's a suggestion! Sounds like M had a very bad day!