Weekly Update

* The flu has hit the middle school with a vengeance. We had 90-some gone yesterday, and 110 out today. I think our total enrollment is around 400, so you can imagine how the halls look. It's so hard to teach when so many are gone. Makeup work to send home, late assignments to grade, lessons to adjust because you don't have enough people, the ever-widening gap between those who have been here and are caught up and those who have missed a week of school, mid-terms to figure over the weekend when I don't have assignments in that I wanted to grade... AAAAHHHHH! Let's just say that I'm glad it's Friday. ;)

* I had to turn the furnace on this week. It struggled at first, and my entertaining plumber friend, Steve, had to come over and smack it around a little. I need a few more years out of it. I can't be thinking about replacing a roof and a furnace all in the same year!

* I went to the ITAG (Iowa Talented & Gifted) state conference on Monday and Tuesday with my colleague, Ann. I heard many wonderful speakers, and I had a lot of nagging questions answered about state regulations and codes for gifted education. It's always a great conference, and Ann and I had a lot of time to powwow about upcoming tasks and challenges. Those challenges are going to be made even more challenging with the recent wonderful (ha) news from Governor Culver. He says he won't "raise taxes on hard-working Iowans," but these cuts could mean layoffs for hundreds of state employees. It makes me think this will be another year of pink slips in our district. Great.

* On a happier note, can you say cupcake shake at Burger King? It's not Cold Stone Creamery's Cake 'n Shake, but it's pretty darned good. I think a few of those will make dealing with life a lot easier in the next few months. ;)

* Andrew went to his first Iowa game last weekend. We had a ball, and I was really excited for him to meet my Hugunin family.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone... I know I will!