the edge

Thank God it was Tuesday all day. I would have ended up jaded if it were a Monday. I'm growing fond of my students. Seventh grade is nothing if not melodrama. Take any afterschool special and inject steroids... voila, you've got middle school. The kid who b*&^%ed me out Friday hugged me today and told me how beautiful she looked with her new highlights. She then said, "I love you" then flitted off to Spanish or Art. Her highlights did look good. With several of my students I feel like I'm walking up to a wild horse with a handful of carrots. They're amazing and skittish and I want to help.

My grammar lesson went much better today because I scaled back about ten-fold. We found the verb. Then we asked "who or what ____?" (spanked, came, were). Of course, there still be dragons in the land of modifiers. But, we tame beasts one at a time on my shift. I'm training pragmatists.

The chief's mantra: "Less is more." After I go into mind-numbing detail about the concept and activities I've planned for a class, the chief simply says, "Remember: less is more."

I had a stand off with the insurance rep. I signed up for flex medical spending, but opted out of the other insurances. She was doing a hard sell. She told me I was taking a "gigantic risk". I told her "call me Eavil Kaneevil. I like living on the edge." She didn't beg me to stay around for more chitchat.

I should have known it would be a wackadoodle day when I spied a guy driving a jeep while smoking a Sherlock Holmes inspired pipe. Twas a bit curly. Cue the crazy.