WNBP: Still Marching

March is a very long month for those of us providing wisdom to the students of Maine. Even when it is over.  While I realize that we get a lot of vacation time, the stretch between the break in February and the next in April is endless.  Even if you factor in the snow days, I still feel like I've been Marching steadily along the gauntlet forever.  I think that the cure for the Not-Quite-April-Vacation-Blues is a little dose of the Wednesday Night Bullet Post.  There's nothing quite like random blathering to take your mind off your troubles!

*This week has been ridiculous.  It's the sort of week where people come up to you once an hour and say:


"Is that a little smile I see?  Just the barest hint of happy lurking at the corner of your mouth?  Why, yes!  I do believe it is!  Why don't I just take care of that for you..."


*Seriously.  Every hour on the hour.


*At least it's not snowing...


*For the moment...


*Probably shouldn't say that aloud...


*I have a toe.  


*It's the second of two toes.  


*Of two socks.  


*Someday I will have two whole socks, but for now, I'm sort of happy about having two toes.


*Wanna see something cute?

Da Boyz sharing their pink blankie.

*I have never, in my whole adult life, had two cats who could be within ten feet of one another unless food was involved.

This is the sort of cute that blinds people and causes traffic accidents...

*For reasons that do not entirely make sense to me, (the boy who is) Dark & Disturbed has decided to start practicing ninja moves in his spare time.


*Or when I am teaching.


*Or having a conversation.


*Suddenly, a dark blur of ninja fury will whiz between me and whomever I might be addressing.


*It is disconcerting...


*Although the ear-shattering tunes blaring from The Boy With The Bass Booming Earbuds is coming in a close second.


*Third would be the weird smell coming from the coconut shell birdhouse that The Future Farmer made and left on my desk a week ago.


*Reading is my only escape these days.


*I couldn't wait any longer to dive intoThe Dark and Hollow Places (Forest of Hands and Teeth, Book 3).


*I can't remember if I told you I'd started that one so I'm telling you now.


*Soooooo good!  More of the Happily Ever After vibe attempted in this one, but I don't blame the author.


*Someone had to have something good happen to them.  The post-apocalyptic world ruled by zombie hordes tends to get a little grim after a fashion...


*Don't get me wrong, the strangely dark and beautiful tone remains fully intact.  


*I normally don't like it when a series uses a different character perspective for each novel, but this series makes it work.


*With that one finished, I returned to the world of Felix Castor and took up Dead Men's Boots (Felix Castor).


*Truly fun reading, but edgy at the same time.  


*Also goes at a fast clip.


*Now, because I know that The Cheerful Teaching Assistant would want me to, I am reading My Blood Approves.


*The CTA loves Amanda Hocking.  I like Amanda Hocking.  


*And we both love talking about what we are reading so it's good to stay ahead of the curve on this series.


*The CTA hasn't started it yet.  


*And, in digital form, these are pretty cheap books.


*It's still a few days until payday so cheap books are a very good thing.


*I'm not the only one having difficulty holding myself together these days.


*Best line of the week courtesy of Mr. Assistant Principal:

"I don't want anyone losing any sleep over this.  I mean...it's just a muffin, not plutonium!"

*The staff is having some difficulty adjusting to the new breakfast cart that is coming around every first period.


*To be fair, the concept is sound.  Kids who miss breakfast in the cafeteria due to late buses can still get something to eat.


*It's just that no one told us about it, nor was the process explained particularly well once they got around to mentioning it.  


*Next thing you know, the science teachers are envisioning crumbs in the beakers and Ms. Sheep can only think of the stampeding herd of hungry students trampling her on their way to sustenance.


*It's not really going to work that way but, as I said, the explanation we received at yesterday's staff meeting wasn't exactly comprehensive.


*Sometimes a muffin is more than a muffin.


*Or seems like it at first glance...


And so it goes.  March is well past, but I'm still marching to its tune.  I think there's maybe another week and a half before someone decides to end this madness and let me sit at home for a week, but I'm not really sure.  It could be more.  Even if it's not more, it still feels like it.

Maybe I should get one of those muffins.  You know.  For strength on the last leg of the march...

SA