September

I've recently decided that September may be my least favorite month of the year. The month has a few positives, such as cooler temperatures (at least some years anyway), fall is one of my favorite seasons and it begins this month, and my Dad's birthday is this month (I'm blessed that he is still here as he'll be 81 next Monday). But then it's also the anniversary of Kevin's birth, and as Stefanie (who has never even known him) says, "We miss him a lot." Then last September my mom died after a 5 year illness with agnogenic myloid metaplasia, a very rare blood disorder. So my mood and attitude have been all over the place the past two weeks, and I fear I won't recover until the magical month of October, maybe my favorite month of the year.

Writing and More Writing

I am excited and overwhelmed simultaneously by how well most of my students are bloggins. Right now I have 292 blogs to read and that is just so far in September. But beyond the sheer numbers of entries is the pleasure I'm getting from reading. I may know this group of students better than I have any class in my 29 years of teaching. They are candid and even enthused as they pick their own topics and write. It's refreshing to have students groan and moan when blogging time is over. I love it when learning is FUN!