Helllooo 3-Day Weekend!!

Yay, it's finally here! Our first 3-day weekend! Thank you, Christopher Columbus! I can't even tell you how happy I am to have this long weekend. I'll be spending Columbus Day the same way I have for the past 12 years - at Bengtson's Pumpkin Farm. For those of you who live here in Chicago, you should check out their website. My sister and I have been taking our kids there every year on Columbus Day since they were babies. Every year, we expect for them to say they don't want to go, but they haven't as of yet. This year, my Dori will be meeting us there, with a friend of hers. It should be fun. The only problem (and it's a BIG one for me!) is that it's supposed to be frickin' 90 degrees here in Chicago this weekend!! I'm not going to be able to enjoy myself at the farm if I'm sweating like a pig!

I've always taken my class to the farm for my October field trip, but we aren't going to be able to do it this year because of cost. The bus alone is $250! But, we already managed to find another trip for October, and I'm just as excited about it. We're going to see a children's musician named Nelson Gill. I saw him for the first time when my son was in preschool, and he came to the church and put on a performance for the kids and their families. It was wonderful! I've been in love with him every since. I bought his tape back then, and I've used it in my classroom ever since. I'm excited that the babies will be able to recognize some of his songs when we go to see him. Hopefully, they'll sing along. I'm also looking forward to buying a CD to replace my cassette!

The copy machine was FINALLY fixed, so I was able to send home the permission slips for this trip. Gee, maybe we can actually send home homework next week! What a novel concept! Since I decided to not be negative today, moving on...

My appearance must have been a little better today, cuz none of the babies asked if I combed my hair today! Ha ha!

A dear friend of mine came to school today to visit. He started at the school the same year I did, but he has since escaped. He spent some time in Europe, and is now living and working in Washington, D.C. He came with his girlfriend of a year, whom he met in D.C. She's from Italy, so naturally, I fell instantly in love with her! Neil read a couple of books to the babies, and they loved it. It was great to see him, and catch up on things. We've made tentative plans to meet up next year when I go to Italy for the summer. We always fly into Milan, which is where Neil and his girlfriend will be living by then, so we're going to try and meet up, even if it's only for my lay-over, which is usually about 4 hours. (From Milan, there's another short flight to Lamezzia, then an hour and half drive to my parents' villa.)

Gee, not much writing about school today, huh? Well, that's definitely preferable over the constant bitching I've been doing lately, right? I'm going to sign off before I'm tempted to complain ;-) I'll leave you with today's quote, and hope you, too, will be enjoying an extended weekend!

It is not so important to know everything as to appreciate
what we learn. ---Hannah More