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Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Beginnings and Endings

Who loves the movie Sleepless in Seattle? This morning I was thinking about the scene where Tom Hanks starts dating again and the song "Back in the Saddle" plays over him making the phone call.  Only I was driving back to work after a two-week break.  School buses were on the road again.  Kids were standing at the edge of driveways in their winter coats.  My travel mug was off the shelf and filled with steaming hot coffee.  It is the start of the second half of our school year (already? What?!) and for me, the busier half of the year.  The part where we schedule our entire student body for next year, do our state-wide testing, process applications for our career-tech school, have graduation, awards ceremonies, and more.  Just thinking about it makes my head spin.  My mantra from now until summer will be "eventually June will come and it will all end." 

So I am at the beginning of the winter season of school life.  Outside all is cold, quiet and calm.  Inside we are a busting beehive of energy.  Ready to take on the meaty portion of the year.  Yet it is also the end of something for me.  A dear friend of mine is moving on to another job at the end of this week.  While I couldn't be happier for her, as it is a huge step up in her career path and she deserves all the recognition that comes with this new position, I am sad to see her go.  In every sense of the word, she's my cubicle mate.  The one who shares my morning "what our kids did to make us crazy" stories.  The friend I share shopping tips with.  A sympathetic ear who is two feet from my chair when I need it.  I will miss her terribly come Friday when she leaves. 

Yet move forward we must.  The pile of work in front of me will not grow smaller, no matter how much effort I put into blogging today.  Sadly, I will stop typing and return to actual paper and pen for a while.  I know, I know...I'll feel better when it is done.