Homecoming at CampBell

Challenge 18... checkup time...

Today was my annual internal medicine checkup with the doctor I've seen for the last 20 years. 

Last year he told me that I showed many signs that I was developing chronic problems associated with obesity: blood pressure creeping upward, blood sugar less-than-stable, joint pain, extreme fatigue, etc. He left me with the admonition that I could keep going down this road by not eating right and not moving, or I could get healthy. The choice was mine, but he assured me I wouldn't be the exception to the reap-sow principle if I kept living an unhealthy lifestyle. 

So I showed up in his office early today *shock* and sat down to read my book. 

A few minutes later I heard a familiar voice say, "Where did Norma go?"
"She's sitting there," the receptionist said.
"Where?"
"There."
"I don't see her.... *in a louder voice* NORMA?" the doctor said as he scanned the waiting room from left to right.
I stood up.
*gasp* "You look completely different? What did you do?!"
"I lost the 75 lbs you told me I had to lose."

And then I went for lab work and came back for the exam. I found out I'm 22 lbs lighter than I have ever been at any point since I started seeing him as my doctor. WOO HOOOOO!!!!!

It was the best checkup ever. He was as thrilled as I was. 

I am so happy that the Lord led me to this journey. I was so bloomin' stubborn for so many years, thinking that I could figure out a way on my own. Mercy and Grace. It was pure mercy and grace. 

The picture? That's the magazine rack in the exam room. The top slot had the Carolina Alumni Review, the middle slot had a random sports magazine, and the bottom slot had a Duke Medicine magazine. (My doctor went to med school at Duke and is currently an associate professor in UNC's med school, in addition to his private practice.) 

I did a little rearranging to make everything prettier. :) 

Challenge 17... iPad deployment...

Our academy is going 1:1 with iPads from fourth grade through twelfth grade this year. We went to the deployment on the first night. At first I thought deployment was a bit of a puffed up term, when distribution was a perfectly good option. Then we arrived and discovered that we, indeed, were there to deploy these devices.

In all honesty, I thought it went great. I don't have any negatives to blog about. The information session was clear and concise (my favorite kind of information session); the password distribution and device use agreement flowed well; the cover selection, complete with a packaging removal station (in the form of a lovely trash can) was smooth and litter-free; and the handing over of a brand new iPad Air and immediate placement in protective case was nothing short of brilliant.

The event concluded with the deployment itself, where students followed clear handout (screen shots... fanTAStic idea) to set up their device so that when they walked out of school, they were ready to clutter it up with flappy and angry and candy everything before launching the new school year where actually playing those apps during class will net a heap-o-trouble.

On the plus side:

1. Passports... clearly labeled stations spread throughout the school gave plenty of time and room to accomplish a task and get a passport stamped. The passport had to be fully stamped before students and parents could take home the iPad.

2. Clear and concise presentation by Technology Director, including a frank discussion of the downside of technology and dark side of the internet. I'm pretty dependent on this guy's expertise; he led us to an awesome filter that his family uses, and we have bought and put it into operation here too. (Which one, you ask? It's called SkyDog. Check it out here.)

3. Tons of space to accomplish each task... plenty of room at the agreement-reading-and-signing tables; wide open spaces for opening packaging and securing the device immediately, and tons of set-up stations with a small army of trained teachers to answer questions when the iPad screen didn't look like the screen shot on the handout. Perfect.

On the minus side:
...

I honestly can't think of anything to go on the minus side.

We have spent a lot of time simultaneously anticipating with excitement and dreading these days. I know the entire Technology Department is probably comatose about now, but they did a great job, and I am thankful.

Now... to implement this new technology in the classroom...

Challenge 16... football at the academy

Somewhere in there is my second football player. OK, third if you count their dad. I'm reeling a bit here. Zane started football as soon as Parks & Rec football was available, which was when he turned seven. With Zack, we went a different route. We had him in i9 football until he could play at school. This year will mark his first year of tackle. 

I'm pretty sure I'm not ready for this, but he is. Ready is an understatement for this kid. He loves football with a passion that frightens me. And he wants to be a long snapper, like his big brother. 

He's not quite as flexible as Zane, but he's working on in, which has been just the incentive he needed to do the stretches he was supposed to be doing for his Osgood-Schlatters anyway. Jimmy thinks Zack will be a great receiver, and Zack's working on that too. 

We'll add Thursday and Saturday afternoons to the football schedule this year. Go Knights! Go Camels! 

Challenge 15... ebola...

One time Kelsey gave Zack cholera for his birthday.

Not the disease... the plush microbe. In the basement of the UNC Student Stores, they had a line of common viruses and bacteria, and cholera was soft, fluffy and his favorite shade of blue. We've gotten a lot of mileage out of cholera-related puns.

Last night, though, our attention turned to Ebola. No laughing matter. Not. One. Bit. Hundreds of people in West Africa have already lost their lives to the disease. Two Samaritan's Purse medical professionals are fighting for their lives and are being flown back to Emory.  I was reading news links in my Twitter feed, and was aghast at the hard-hearted, cynical comments. Fear is an ugly thing.

I should know, I've battled microbe-related OCD since ~1995. In its depths, I could neither leave my house nor let anyone into my house without a decontamination process. It was a dark, dark time, and remnants are still with me, but thankfully it's not debilitating anymore. Truly the Lord has healed my mind and equipped me with tools to deal with the throwback moments.

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to run up and hug someone with Ebola {which, by the way, would be a stupid thing to do}, but I'm equally sure that keeping our own doctor and nurse our of their own country is cruel and heartless.

I stand in awe of the stories of healthcare professionals who are serving on the front lines of danger, whether it's microbial danger or faith-based persecution or outright military war. Greater love has no man...

You all are in our prayers daily.

Last night I saw a video post on Facebook featuring a Samaritan's Purse doctor talking about the Ebola outbreak on West Africa. It just happened that the doctor on the video was a guy Jimmy went to high school with. The video was uploaded a few weeks ago, and the situation seems to have gotten decidedly worse.

Please pray and check out the video below:

Challenge 14... hello, woodland creatures...

The men and women of our house have distinctly different views on the wildlife that wanders through the yard. I see it as pretty and cute and furry. Jimmy suggests we put a tree stand in one of the trees. At least we know we represent well the gender stereotypes.

This buck grazed through the front yard this morning. He was alert but never flashed the white tail until he bounded across the cul-de-sac to our neighbor's yard where the grass is decidedly greener. Of course, our grass is more tender, so I can only assume that his appetizer was our side of the road and he was headed for the entree.

They have many luscious {expensive} plants peppered throughout their natural area... downright gourmet eatin' over there. Our yard is a bit more like shredded iceberg lettuce with shredded carrots. The grass is lettuce; the numerous storm-harvested sticks are carrots.

The buck has three fawns with him. Two poked around the buffer between our yard and our neighbors, and the third ventured directly into the next-door neighbor's yard. It's greener too.

There's also a picture of a doe peeking through the pool fence. The wooded area behind her is where they have their... nest? burrow? den?... I don't know what deer-homes are called. She came to visit early in June and just stood there, watching me read my book.

The deer population must be getting out of control. Virtually everyone I know who doesn't have a fence around their garden has become part of Salad Bar Tour '14. Hunting season is going to be interesting.

Challenge 13... cauliflower pizza crust...

Let me just go on the record in saying that I think the whole gluten-free thing is a little overhyped. I have some sweet friends with celiac disease, and I 100% know their reaction to gluten is legit, but gluten, in my humble opinion, isn't causing the decline of Western culture.

That said, around the middle of September last year, I saw a picture of myself and thought... I look old and fat and tired. Ew. I sent a text message to a friend and about a week later I started a journey towards a much healthier life.

I've lost over 70 lbs and am transitioning to a maintenance phase, so that means that I'm looking for great recipes that will give me the most bang for my caloric buck. I found this great recipe for cauliflower pizza crust on Pinterest.

I decided to do a little experiment and just make "homemade" pizza (as far as the kids knew) and have the family try it without telling them the crust was made from cauliflower.  It was a HUGE hit. The Zackster said that it was way better than Pizza Hut, and Zane said it was different, but he really liked it.
Jimmy asked me to put it in the regular rotation of meals.

So yay! New, healthy pizza!!! Click here for the recipe.

Challenge 12... procrastination and summer reading...

OHMYWORD! I am JUST LIKE MY STUDENTS!!!

So I started and forgot and procrastinated and forgot and really-meant-to, and here we are, two days into Part 2 of Summer 2014 and I thought I'd be long-since done with my 20-blog challenge, but no. Bless.

So that's how it happens. I'd call this little experiment a success so far.

Normally I take the first two weeks of summer to recover... sleep, clean, organize, clear off the dining room table, and plot the rest of the summer. Then I go on vacation. This year we skipped vacation. I felt sad about that for Zane, since we went to Disney the summer after Kelsey graduated, but then I realized we sent Jimmy and Zane to Peru for a week when we sent Kelsey nowhere, so I suppose it evens out.

I've read too.

Last summer I read the Harry Potter series and some other books I can't remember. In Part 1 of Summer 2014, I read and reread random books: Mere Christianity, The Great Divorce, and Voyage of the Dawn Treader (CS Lewis); Wounded by God's People (Anne Graham Lotz); Disconnected Kids (Robert Melillo); How to Write Short (Roy Peter Clark); and On Writing (Stephen King). I'm currently reading by the pool Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) and in the evenings Raney (Clyde Edgerton). Reading those two last fiction titles at the same time could conceivably make my head explode.

It feels like it's going slowly, but I actually annotated Clark and King and got LOTS of ideas about how to make both my writing and English classes better. "Less is more," I always say. Actually, I usually say "more is more," but I'm trying to write short{er}.

I guess that bring us to this, then: The End. Of Challenge 12. More to come. Later...

Challenge 11... things I didn't do...

My whole day was dedicated to not getting anything done. I achieved new heights in non productivity, and to be honest, I really have no idea how it happened.

First, I didn't get the kitchen cup cabinet cleaned out. Then I didn't get the laundry folded, nor did I get the house straightened up. I didn't get checks to the bank; I didn't get my Fitbit charged; and I didn't get to swim my laps.

I also didn't get the book read that I have to read before 9:30 a.m. Thursday morning.

I did get wet when a random rainstorm meandered over the pool. I did get shooed off the pool deck four different times in a 90-minute span as random thunder crackled every single time Zack, Jimmy, or I stepped into the pool. (I felt a little like Helen Hunt today. Only instead of being chased by a vengeful tornado, we were chased by random thunder.)

I did get the all-important Form F scanned and emailed to our insurance agency at the beach, after spending the better part of the morning making phone calls and learning more than I ever wanted to know about an NC-admitted insurance underwriter versus Lloyds of London. I also learned about different types of flood insurance and how tsunami and building collapse could actually make us need a flood policy, even though our condo is four stories up.

But my to-do list for this Monday? Shot to blue blazes.

Challenge 10... pantry cleaning...

Cleaning out the cabinets and pantry.

When he saw the fully decluttered and cleaned pantry, Zack announced that we have NO FOOD in the house. All I did was throw out the expired food. That should tell you it's been a long time since I've cleaned out the pantry. I thought I cleaned out the pantry about a year ago, but surely I wouldn't have left cans in there that expired in 2012 2010 2007. Surely.

In the cabinets above the toaster oven, I found a stash of Chick-fil-a sauce and ketchup that would amaze the Hoarders team. The sauce, ketchup, extra plastic ware, and the wooden clementine crate they were sitting in all landed in one of the four extra large trash bags we tossed.

The sad part is that I cleaned out only one small pantry and only three cabinets' worth of food storage. I still have the other half of food cabinets to go. Then cups. Then plates and bowls. Then storage containers. Then cooking/baking equipment. Then serving pieces. Then candles. (WHO ON EARTH HAS AN ENTIRE CABINET FOR CANDLES?!) Then vases and sundry glass containers for decorative purposes. It's going to be a long haul.

Clutter gives me the illusion of having plenty, but in all honesty, it's largely junk. I'm looking forward to getting rid of the unnecessary stuff in our house over the course of summer break. Just 30 minutes to an hour a day... that's all.

Onward and upward to the spice cabinet... and Kitchen Declutter Phase 1 is complete.

It's not easy living such a glamorous life.

Challenge 9... fitbit lit...

I can barely contain the joy in my heart! Woo Hoo!  Look at me all Fitbit lit! That, folks, means that I walked my 10,000 steps today.

*happy dance*
*200 more steps*

But for real, you need to get one of these things.  I hate tracking anything.  Tracking is THE worst. That's one of the reasons the program I've used to realign lifestyle with health goals works for me. All I have to do is remember to eat every three hours. Can do.

Of course, the major lifestyle shift works better if I can also drink at least 64 ounces of water each day, be at least moderately active for 30 minutes, take as many steps as possible (10,000 being the goal), and sleep AT LEAST 6-7 hours a night (that's a big one for my old habit of sleeping 4-5 hours a night).  But all that means tracking so. many. numbers.

And then --- laaahhhhhh!!! --- Fitbit!

 It does ALL THAT, plus calories in and calories out. Glory. I LOVE THIS THING!!!

I was just looking at the activity graph and saw a spike between 5:30 and 5:45. What was I doing? I thought. I was walking around the neighborhood. For only 15 minutes? Yep. Driven home by thunder. I finished the time (and a little extra) on the elliptical tonight.

Much to my surprise, I've drank over 100 ounces today. Whoa.

I am so excited about my little tech toy! In the past two days I've found myself getting up and moving because I knew just sitting and surfing would show on the graph. Perfect.

You can order them from fitbit.com. Mine is the Fitbit Flex.

Seriously... you need one of these things. Make it happen.

Challenge 8... hello, fitbit...

My precious. My birthday present. (Why yes, we have read The Hobbit twice in the past calendar year.) 

Hopefully it won't make me evil. And hopefully it will make a little more of me disappear. 

Last September we had a family event which produced a family photo of Jimmy and his brother, plus the wives and all the cousins. The photo op just so happened to come on the heels of a physical in which my doctor concluded with, "Get thee to a nutritionist and a gym if thou wishest to live long in the land the Lord hath given thee and enjoy the fruits of thine family for generations to come." Between  medical exhortation and photographic evidence, I decided denial isn't a happy place and sent up an SOS to my old health coach. 

Nine months later, I am eight pounds from the weight I'd like to be and sitting nicely in the middle of a lifestyle revolution that includes less junk, more movement, more rest, and an all-around more purposeful and distinctly more healthy approach to life. And it feels awesome. 

For the first time ever that I've tackled weight loss (and ohmyword have I done this many times), my main goal is to be healthy, not just to lose weight. It's a package deal. I do have a goal number in mind because after 20 years, I think I should probably take off the rest of the baby weight I gained through three pregnancies-- hence the weight more pounds is like to lose. But the number isn't the driving force; the lifestyle is.

At this point, eating is under control and I've cultivated some good habits there, but I'm sporadic at best with movement and facing a summer that could go either way -- sedentary or active. 

So for my birthday, I asked Jimmy to get me a FitBit. I'm thrilled for the definitive tracking I'll get. I'm sure I think I move more than I actually do, so I'm using this took to spur me on to movement and good habits. It even tracks sleep and water--- those are my two weakest areas of compliance with great health habits. 

So yay for birthdays! And supportive hubbies. And zillionth chances. And grace. And even yay for technology. 

Challenge 7... neighbors...

There are neighbors and then there are neighbors.

Most of the people who live near you are neighbors. (OK, this is the South, so if you're anywhere else this might not be your experience, but this is how it is where I live, so, yeah.) Neighbors will smile and wave when your pass them. They'll pick up your mail when you're out of town. They'll walk across the way and bring you mis-delivered mail/packages. They'll do all the traditional neighborly stuff.


Neighbors, on the other hand, knock on your front door, holding two glasses of fresh-brewed tea and say, "You got time to sit on the porch and visit?"

Neighbors take your almost-but-not-quite potty-trained 2.9-year-old into their house for less than a minute, and when he emerges with a ziploc bag of fun-sized gummy Lifesavers packs and tells you, "I get one when I go pee pee in the potty and a whole pack when I poop in the potty," he hands you the bag and is fully potty trained forever and ever. (I STILL to this day to not know how she did that. She's the potty-training whisperer.)

Neighbors put signs in various places all over your house, counting down the last week before your 40th birthday. And the on your actual birthday, neighbors flock your yard with flamingos while you're out to dinner with your family.

And ten years later, neighbors come to your oldest son's graduation party and secretly hand off to your daughter a birthday sign and bag of 50 art foam candles with specific instructions for placement two days later.

Neighbors bring joy. Or in this case, neighbors are Joy. 

My friend Joy inspires me. Leprechauns work mischief around her house on St. Patrick's Day. Her kids' tooth fairies dipped their wings in a glass of water next to her kids' pillows, leaving behind their own special glittery color. I'm blessed to know her. She takes time to do the little things that make the world a little more magical.

We moved from the house next door to Joy over six years ago, and Joy has never stopped being our neighbor. For that I am overwhelmingly grateful. This world could use a lot more Joy.

Challenge 6... to do...

The To-Do list for the week. I'm starting the To-Do list on Tuesday because Sunday we recovered from graduation festivities and Monday I was busy turning 50.  That brings us to today.

1. Call about insurance on the condo. Goodness, I wish it were more glamorous, but that's it. We need new insurance on our condo. Our little renter is in there, and the insurance we currently have runs out at the end of this month. Because we first got insurance in 2005 we couldn't find an NC-underwritten company that would carry insurance on NC coastal properties, but I think maybe we can get it through the same company that carries our homeowners, auto, and umbrella policies.

2. Call the painters. I have finally found a color I want to pain the kitchen/family room area. Woot. On Saturday, hours before we were hosting several dozen guests (mostly football players) for a graduation party, I was shopping at Target and found a couple of lovely stools and a metal serving tray. They're an off-white/antique white color. As I've stared at them over the past two days, I see that the color coordinates perfectly with the furniture and rugs and cabinets and countertops. I've been waiting five years to find a color I like; this is it. So, callin' the painters...

3. Read. I'm on vacation-- I get to read.

a. Summer Reading. Zack had to choose between Voyage of the Dawn Treader and A Wrinkle in Time as his summer reading for seventh grade. He selected Voyage yesterday, and we started reading. Since it's C.S. Lewis, it's going to be a family affair. Nobody's going to Narnia without me--it's my happy place. However... after reading Chapter 1, I realize the boy hasn't seen or read Lion or Caspian.  Whoa, Nellie. How did this happen? He's read Percy Jackson, but not been to print Narnia. SMH. Child #3. Had to download them onto my Kindle. We'll be heading through the wardrobe later today. 

 b. Norma Reading. As a high school English teacher, I usually get to read two things: works I'm teaching and student writing. Sometimes, I read a title the kids are reading, especially if they sneak it into class and try to read is while we're supposed to be diagramming sentences or something equally as scintillating. {Must be good stuff to detract from sentence diagramming.} But on Sunday I started reading a book by Anne Graham Lotz, recommended to me by my sweet friend of many years. It is EXACTLY what I needed. I can see how the Lord has been preparing my heart for this book for a long time. If you get a chance and have ever had a moment's worth of conflict with anyone who is a believer, read it. It's titled Wounded by God's People. SPOILER ALERT: It's not them; it's you. 

4. Call and schedule checkups. For the one with Osgood-Schlatter's; for the one who needs retesting for tree nut and shellfish allergies; for the one who has to have a sports physical; for the one who has to have a college physical; for the one who has 50-year-old eyes and probably needs bifocals now. That should do it. Everything else has already been scheduled.

5. Load up on Vitamin D. There is something healing to my soul about being in the sunshine by the water. It doesn't even matter what water, just that it's water.

Five is enough for one day. Off to make this list happen...

Challenge 5... Norma 5-0...

Yep. The big 5-0. I turn 50 today. Yeah, I know. I don't look like I'm 50. I look more along the lines of 48 1/2. Thank you for the compliment. It's nothing, really. Good genes. My mom looks like she's in her 60's, but she's 80.

My plan is to declutter life periodically until I turn 51. Once I hit the big 5-1, I'm collecting butter tubs and pie pans and storing them in the attic, basement, garage, cabinets, etc. until I die when I am 100. By that time, my kids will be 70, 68, and 63, and they can declutter my butter tubs and pie pans. It'll be a fun, bonding experience, sorting through 50 years of containers that could potentially be "used for something someday." To make it a little interesting, I had a friend suggest that I put $20 bills in random butter tubs and tape $100 bills under a couple pie pans. Yeah, buddy. Sort through every. single. one.

Hahaha. Not really. Since I did my stint with FlyLady, I think I'd lose my mind if I didn't stay fairly well decluttered.

But, yeah. 50. I'm grateful. Fifty years has gone fast, and inside I'm pretty confident I'm still in my late 20's. I am blessed, and even though there have been some testy times, I must admit that my boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places and I am VERY grateful for that. The Lord didn't have to do that, but He did. Grace... not just in the blessings of my life, but in the redemption of my life... yes, most of all the redemption... wow... He just leaves me speechless.

So Happy Birthday to me. Thank you, Lord.

Happy graduation...

We interrupt these Challenge posts to bring you the graduation of second-born child, Zane. Time flies, y'all. I mean, time REALLY flies.

I am so proud of him. It's been a roller coaster ride, but wow, he has rallied. He stepped up to start (and then lead) a Cru High School small group, made all-conference in football, was selected (how none of us knows, since his phlegmatic temperament helps him keep a low profile in school) to deliver a keynote address at the Senior Assembly, finished with high honors and as an NC scholar (whatever that is).  I feel so very, very blessed.

Did I mention that time flies? All the time... for all the kids? Yeah, the baby girl is a young lady, a little over halfway through with college. The oldest male child, a high school graduate. The little dude... within striking distance of being taller than everyone except his dad.

We celebrated. Decor creds to Kelsey. I was running around town like a crazy woman, while she was at home making signs and arranging pics and generally transforming our home into a Zane shrine. LOL. She did great.

I loved hosting friends and family for good ol' NC barbecue, Gramma's cookies and pound cake, and s'mores made over the first fire of the 2014 summer season.

Yep, I feel blessed.

Challenge 4... david blaine and graduation...

David Blaine just swallowed a string and pulled it out of his stomach. From the skin on the outside. Creepiest thing I've seen all day, and I spent a good chunk of it cleaning my classroom, which was pretty scary.

It's late, and I really should go to sleep, but David Blaine's doing street magic in the South (Memphis, I think. I saw the gates of Graceland), and the people... are... priceless.  Goodness, I love a good southern accent. Even David Blaine is talking with a southern accent now.

We are heading to the Angus Barn on Friday after Zane's graduation. They have a magician there, who travels from table to table doing card tricks and making foam pieces multiply. He's wildly entertaining, although I'm sure some of the nonmagical folks might not appreciate their fairly pricy celebratory dinner being interrupted while he makes their money and rings disappear.

We're a pretty fun-loving family, though, so we're up for the throwback to the middle ages where traveling performers and court jesters entertained during the feasts. It makes waiting for the perfect meal seem like it doesn't take so long.

Graduation on the heels of a very busy week, followed by a lovely family dinner afterwards and then a lovely cookout with friends on Saturday. Should be a lovely weekend.

Challenge 3... the tweeters and college...

No one is ever going to pay you to tweet.

I believe those were my words as I was exhorting my child unto a degree in education.

That would have been about three or four months before she was named social media manager for her college newspaper for the 2014-2015 school year. A paying position. They're paying her to tweet.

And THEN she gets paid to write an article for a social media blog... on Twitter.  Evidently you can not only get paid to tweet, you can also get paid to write about tweeting. What do I know?

What DO I know? I know that I'm a proud momma and my role has shifted. Instead of dispensing edicts, I'm making suggestions. We've hit that point where I'm parenting a young adult. It's weird and wonderful and challenging.

Speaking of challenging, the answer is three. I can get three blog posts written in about an hour, while also watching Shark Tank and talking with the family.

Hey, that's the same number of licks it takes to get the the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop.

Challenge 2... math and English and the fall of civilization...

Mathing. Whenever I grade papers, be it tests, quizzes, or essays, I always tell the students to math behind me. I can't add worth diddly squat, even with a calculator.

I make mistakes sometimes. Usually I say, "Merry Christmas. I'm not going to penalize you because I added wrong." Only yesterday, I couldn't say that.

The last class of the day I made a HUGE addition error. I had no idea how it happened. I had clearly written the correct amount and then I'd overwritten it with an incorrect amount. I added the first three elements of the rubric wrong when I was RECHECKING the grade, of all things.

I remember the essay distinctly. It lost points for being vague... not enough details. Great ideas; insufficient supports. I'd already squeezed as much as I could squeeze out of it.

So I regraded everything. And I checked all her other grades. I looked for every single point I could, and there weren't enough. She finished with a 92. She needed a 93 for exam exemption.

I felt like dirt. She went through the entire weekend thinking she was exam-exempt. She showed up on Monday, thinking it was a time to chill with friends. Nope. She had to review. She has to take the exam tomorrow.

I think we both kind of wish she hadn't double-check my math. Integrity is painful sometimes.

And sometimes teaching is hard.

Challenge Accepted...

Each quarter my Honors Creative Writing class has to write 20 blog posts of at least 200 words each. I just finished grading [all of] them [that were done]. Apparently procrastination is a running theme.

Probably 60 percent of the bloggers mentioned [incessantly] that they procrastinated and didn't do the blog posts until the last minute. At least two said they saved them all for the night before they were due. Bless their hearts.

So, I'm going to see what that's like. All the things I can grade are graded. I'm just sitting here, hitting refresh to see if anything fun is happening in the world. Surely, I can knock out a mere 20 blog posts before bedtime. Surely.

And already I see some benefit to this challenge. Blogger doesn't have word count, so you have to type everything into a Word document first. I never saw that coming. Everything I do is based on word count. Who DOESN'T keep track of word count? Blogger evidently.

In case you were wondering, that was 166 words.

And that explains why my students write about 3/4 of a post and then shift to another topic.

Squirrels. What's the deal with squirrels? (One time when I was probably six or seven years old, my next door neighbor tried to catch a squirrel by the tail. Pulled the poor squirrel's tail right off and wore it from the brim of his baseball cap, like some sort of crazed Davy Crockett.)

246 words.

Overachiever.