Cruising up the bike trail and feeling strong this morning, with a breeze in my face and the river beside me. It's going to get steamy later, but in the morning cool, it just feels so good!

A whole other day at work without anyone freaking out. I realize that's a small thing, but after you go almost a whole year without it, you appreciate it. Being able to walk through the halls or talk to co-workers without wondering what fresh hell lurks around every conversational corner. I can just do my work, and that's kind of great.

It was a great first day. And in the course of that day, my boss clarified a policy issue, received several respectfully dissenting opinions from staff, and by the end of the day had modified the policy to reflect the concerns staff had expressed to him. It's a nice thing to work for somebody who listens and responds.

A really good and uplifting in-service today, but in a good, realistic, on-this-planet way and not in a unicorns pooping rainbows way. Still had some time to get some things ready, and I'll have a little time to continue that process tomorrow. I'm excited to get things going, probably a little more than  usual because Amanda's excitement is leaking all over the house. It is so great that she is finally getting to do the work that she was born to do. Kids tomorrow for her.

There is something warming about driving with a loved one sleeping in the car. I don't know-- maybe it appeals to my caveman protective side. But it's a real privilege to be able to drive my daughter to the airport, before sunrise, sliding down the highway into the morning. And it's a real gift to make the whole trip with my wife beside me.

I'm behind, and as much as I was afraid of trying to meet my daughter's standard of three things, I may end up going there.

Wednesday night we were all up and out late, first sitting and cutting things out for Amanda's classroom. She is so pumped and so anxious but it is so cool to see all this stuff come together into a room that looks just like her. And then we wrapped up the day with some Just Dance, and I still suck, but it's fun to take turns flopping around the living room rhythmically with my wife and daughter.

Yesterday Barbara went shopping with me for shirts and ties. Then last night Barbara's date canceled so I went with her up to Erie to see Melissa in Legally Blonde. Melissa did really, really well. I also got to see Evan O'Polka, who was my Hamlet-in-the-park years ago. But mostly it was fun to see a show again with the woman long-ago dubbed The Critic because she has such a good eye for theater and what's working and what's not. It was a great evening.

There's nothing quite as exciting as an in-service that provides good information that you can actually use. The trainer for MBC was an actual classroom teacher, and the information she provided got me excited about some of the uses I can find for the program-- particularly nice because I have not been loving MBC and have been a little grumpy about having to give up moodle for it.

In other teacher new, it is also exciting to watch my wife get so cranked up for her first full year of full time employment in her own classroom. Elementary people have so much labor-intensive bit-work stuff to do for their rooms, and after a couple of decades of being able to just saunter in on day one, I get kind of cranked up to see how cranked up she is getting.