This is it...

A quick post, because I need to head for bed. Tomorrow is IT: we have to wake up at 7 am, be at school by 7:55. In the last few days, we have somehow gotten much more off schedule than before, and this at a time when we're supposed to be getting ON schedule, going to bed earlier, getting up earlier... Nope, not us. Two days ago we all slept in until NINE. Today, fortunately, it was EIGHT. Tomorrow it must be SEVEN. I am not looking forward to my alarm going off.

In fact, why am I sitting here typing? It's 11:00 pm -- I need to go to bed! But if I did, I wouldn't be able to sleep yet. I'm going to try to have the light off by midnight. We'll see.

Fortunately, I don't start teaching until next week, so that's something. But I have meetings all day tomorrow and much of Friday. In fact, I don't get to pick the kids up from school tomorrow, something I'm quite sad about. I want to hear how it all went! I guess they can still tell me when I get home, two hours later.

Boos were having a hard time settling down to go to sleep tonight, and so I told them they might have funny dreams about school. Kid A said, "Like what kind of funny dream?" and I said, "Well, I might dream that I went to school, but my teacher was a cat, like Pie Bear. And maybe instead of talking, the Cat Teacher would say 'Meow meow meow meow' and I would say 'I don't understand what you're saying!' and the Cat Teacher would say 'Meow meow meow meow!' " Boos were amazed and thrilled at the idea of such a dream, and Kid B said that he might dream that his teacher was a cat but a cat that could talk with words! Kid A said that he might dream that his principal was a cat and when students were bad it would scratch them! And then they actually let me close their door, as though they wanted to go to sleep and have some of these interesting dreams.

I'm still in a tizzy about my own teaching, still not at all ready for Monday. I wish I could have some concentrated time to work on course planning, but it hasn't been possible. I work from 9 pm (or later, whenever the kids go to bed) until I give up and go to bed. Tonight I got about an hour in. It isn't enough. But it's all I have. If only I didn't have meetings the next two days! Maybe I can get Rocket Boy to take the kids somewhere this Saturday. We have a big annual event to attend on Sunday -- how's that going to work? I'm trying not to think about it.

When life gets crazy, bad things tend to happen -- I think mainly because you cut corners, don't pay attention -- and indeed, something bad happened to me today. My bike was stolen off our front porch. It is completely and utterly my fault: I didn't lock it, even though I HAVE a lock, and it's very easy to lock the bike to the porch railing. But I didn't do it, because I was lazy and I'd gotten away without locking it many times before. But that was then and this is now: the students are back in town, and either one of them stole it or someone stole it with plans to sell it to one of them. I reported it to the police and I'm watching craigslist to see if it shows up there, but it probably won't and the police probably won't find it. I've probably seen the last of the bike.

It's not the end of the world. I paid $125 for the bike four months ago, and now I'll just look for another similar bike and pay about the same amount and we'll move on. But it's irritating because IF ONLY I'D LOCKED IT. And I was starting to really like that bike, was having fun riding it around town, learning the best routes to school. Oh well.

All our other bikes are locked up now. And I'll take the bus tomorrow instead of riding my bike. At least I have a bus pass.

Meanwhile, tomorrow is still the first day of school for two little boys -- the first day of first grade! So exciting! -- and it WILL be a good day, stolen bikes be damned. So on we go, but it's a bit of a wake-up call, not unlike the alarm that will be going off in less than eight hours.