Fall Break

It's been a loooooonnnnng 2 months with no break, so this 3 day weekend has been a god-send. The kids on the other hand, got an indulgent 5 day weekend while we teachers had parent teacher conferences.

Conferences. Now that was an interesting experience. Fortunately a few scheduled meetings with parents of struggling students in the weeks leading up to conferences trained me nicely. It was a long haul though. Let's just say that I teach over 137 students. The average teacher in our high school only handles around 60 to 80. So compared to many, I was inundated with meetings all day; no breaks. No traumatizing encounters with parents thank heavens. They're pretty level headed for the most part. Makes sense, judging that they chose an academically rigorous school for their child to begin with. What was most interesting was seeing how the student took after the parents both physically and characteristically. That was my favorite part!

I also got a couple of direct compliments that were especially encouraging. When I introduced myself to a student's mom as the history teacher, she immediately said "Emily adores you!!!!" Those uplifting compliments I received now and again during conferences were so incredibly helpful. They've given me that extra boost of confidence to KBO (keep buggering on) till Thanksgiving break.

19 days till I'm home in Michigan for Thanksgiving!!!! Yippee! Plus, I'm home for a whole week! CAN. NOT. WAIT. for the following:

1. Phoebe & Mallory!

2. chilly Michigan fall days with vibrant colors (things are still relatively warm here in CO Springs, aside from a random snow storm early last week)

3. riding in the Navigator with Mom doing errands & catching up

4. Intellectual time with Daddy

5. Spiced Chais from Checker Records

6. Day after Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches

7. Movies with the fam on Dad's mega-home theater system

8. Breakfast and Lunch Pad Thai at the Coffee Cup

9. Going back to Holy Trinity and seeing the parish family again

10. Time with Nadia (including Breaking Dawn!)

11. Time to work ahead in class work. I will most likely be checking a bag of books on the plane. Sadly. Or should I ship them ahead?? Dilemmas...

Now its time to turn my attention to the tasks before Thanksgiving Break and trick-or-treaters tonight. Cheers!