Break, Broke

Hey there friends!

I realize I am a terrible blogger when I just disappear for days on end with no explanation.  But, let me assure you, terrible blogging usually means that I am busy LIVING.  And we all agree that is far more important, right?!

Spring Break.  I don't know if non-teachers out there realize this, but right now professional educators are more than a little depressed.  We have weathered years of negative press that continues to tell us that we suck at our jobs on a daily basis.  (If I read one more headline about how "our schools are failing us" I may just move to Canada.)  We deal with stressed out kids and families on a daily basis who are losing their jobs, their homes, their safety nets.  And now most of us our worried about our jobs.   Class sizes are already large.  Cuts have already gone deep.  Will our schools survive until the economy recovers?  Will the attack on the unions continue?  Will we even want to be teachers anymore if the conditions become too unsustainable?

I'm not trying to get all political here on this blog or be all depressing, but this is where my mind is at these days.  And Spring Break.  It's a necessary time.  A time to catch up on sleep, rejuvenate, clean your house in broad daylight, hug your long-suffering husband, chase your precocious three-year-old and just remind yourself that life is good.  Really good.

At the last minute, we planned a 5-day trip to San Francisco to meet up with some of our dearest friends who were also in California on vacation.  Rod, Nathalie, Kai, Sheldon, Ericka, Andrew--they are part of a group of friends we've maintained over the years.  We all grew up in the same community, in the same conservative Mennonite religious tradition, and even went to the same schools.  Now we live all over the country (and the world) and our thoughts on faith and religion are about as varied as they could possibly be, yet we've found ways to stay friends through the years.  Hanging out with them is like a glass of cool water on a hot day.

And then spring break was over and we came back and plunged right back into the thick of things at work again.  And I'm trying to hold onto that rested feeling, that cool water.  Perhaps if I share photos from our trip over the next few days, I'll hold onto it a little longer.