My Last Day of School

It's the long kiss good-bye. Another year, wrapping up. So much to do even now. My check-out at school is complete except for my classroom so I still have to go back on Tuesday to clean up my desk and move files home for the summer.

Friday morning means Panera Bread. We met to spend a few minutes honoring Suzanne, a teacher and friend to all of us. She has been a leader and a role model to so many of us. Suzanne has made the difficult decision to leave the classroom and pursue other things. We gave her a card that not coincidentally had her favorite Bible verse on it. She loved the gifts we gave her; a hand-carved watering can angel, a daily calendar, and a plate displaying a quote from Erma Bombeck that expressed the desire to stand before God someday never having wasted a single moment of her life.

Once at school it was work, work, work! We all had records to complete, textbooks to count, lessons to file, and classrooms to clean. Mrs. Fuqua delivered some somber news at our morning staff meeting. She said that Knox County is in a budget crisis and that non-tenured and interim teachers are not promised a job at West Valley next year. There will be lots of changes at our school for the 2008-2009 school year. Jessica Clark is leaving. Suzanne is leaving. Angela Roberts is leaving. Lu Petrozello retired. Heather Rowley is having a baby. Emily Fendley is getting married. Scotty has an interview on Tuesday. April has applied for a transfer. And the positions of so many others are up in the air due to the budget crunch. Sherry and I are feeling unsettled.

Our lunch was catered by Silver Spoon, but I chose to bring a salad from home. Lu's retirement party was well-attended and I think she felt loved and appreciated. I hope when I retire that I can leave feeling like I did my best and my job is done.

I always feel a little melancholy at the ending of each school year. This year has been especially tough because I have come to depend on my friends so much for encouragement and support. Summer will pass quickly though, and time spent at home with my children is precious. I will cherish each day and invest my time well.

I worked in my classroom until about 4:00 then headed home. Ed picked up Addie and Sam and took them swimming with Olivia. Drew was on the computer, Tom was out and about, so I headed up to Grandmom's and Papaw's for a quick visit. I am so fortuntate to have my family so close. They never fail to fill me up! Drew brought up his portrait of Andrew at Krispy Kreme. I wanted to share it with Mom and Dad because I think it's amazing! A little later, Ed brought the kids by and we headed to Moe's to meet Tom for dinner. He was already there eating with Tracy Webb. We got caught up on the situation at WestLake from Tracy's perspective. Tom had to leave to get some papers signed, so Ed and the kids and I walked down to TCBY for some dessert. We ran into Miles and Katy and their kids and it was so good to see them! We have shared many good times with them and my children love their children. Kayla and Sterling cruised up in a red hot convertible and reminded me that they were SENIORS now!

Chelcie called to tell me she was twenty minutes away from Taylor's house, so we passed around hugs and pledged to get together soon with Miles and Katy, and headed out to reclaim Chelcie. She had a great time on her cruise and has the pictures to prove it! They met some boys from the Citadel, but fortunately, no true loves.

Once home, she shared her stories and pictures. Addie let it slip that David Cook won American Idol, so Chelcie was "so mad" the rest of the night. I went to bed about 10:30, exhausted from the day.