Hooray! Week one is over and with the exception of being exhausted, I think it went well. The classroom came together and looks wonderful, the kids all seem very sweet and have been on task most of the time, and none of the parents asked questions I couldn't answer at Back to School Night. The only snafoo was on the first day of school. I was up at 5:30, out of the parking lot at 6:30 and on my way. The commute had been taking me about 35-40 min the week before so I thought I would be in my room a good hour before school started at 8:10. Wrong!!! Some one had the misfortune of being rear ended and spun on the freeway which ended up closing 3 of the 4 lanes heading north on 15. Traffic wasn't even crawling - it was stopped for quite some time. One of my worst teacher's nightmares has always been about being late for the first day of class and having the principal standing in my room when I arrive. Well, guess what? It happened! Once traffic started moving, I tried to make up for the lost time and would have just made it, but the school parking lot was jammed up and there was no place to park. I finally crowded in against a red curb and ran for it, but Mrs. Freeman was standing in the front of the room apologizing to the kids when I made my out of breath entrance - ugh!!! Both the kids and principal were very understanding and the day went from my nightmare being realized to a pretty awesome first day.

I wish I could have posted a picture of my class, but I would have had to get permission from all of the parents, so the beautiful arrangement of flowers that arrived for me from my sweetie will have to suffice. The background bulletin board is our "Star of the Week" board. I shared a lot about me this week, and every student will get a turn throughout the year - a fun way to get to know each other a little better.

A big thanks for all the well wishes this week. It was great to read all the comments for the last couple of entries - very touching. I know Glen and I are a little behind on returning e-mails, but hopefully I'll start having more time soon. We did finally change our Hawaiian cell phone numbers to San Diego ones. We tried to get word out to everyone, but if we missed you, please write them down. Glen's is 760-421-8088 and mine is 760-421-8091.

While I've been having fun in my classroom, Glen has been a busy beaver with sanding and varnishing the wood on the outside of the boat. He finished all of the grates, then started on the cockpit and starboard cap rail. It looks fantastic! The Dorothy Marie has never looked this good. Glen did a lot of reading and discussing with other boaters about the best techniques for varnishing and it is truly amazing the difference it is making. We'll be sure to post some pictures when he is done.

My being back to work has meant Glen and I are now separated for hours and hours at a time. After being together 24/7 for so long, it has been quite an adjustment for us. We have both missed each other a lot - go figure!!!

We just got word that our friends from Charisma made it back home to the Napa Valley area with their boat. Kristen had flown home from Hawaii and Alan and a couple of buddies sailed the boat back. We're hoping to plan a trip up to visit them soon.

Well, I better get this posted and get on the road. Although it is Saturday, I am going to go work in my room to figure things out for this next week. I'm also meeting my niece, Jennifer, at the store room today to pass on some of my books and stuff for her new class. She will be teaching Kindergarten this year - lucky girl! :)