The Rollercoaster

Well, the fall concert was a smashing success. The kids really stepped up and performed well, but more importantly, we had a lot of fun. The audience was engaged and I think enjoyed the direction the program is headed.

Unfortunately, the day to day work with the kids is still a great challenge. Fighting apathy is my daily battle. I personally feel like I'm on an emotional roller coaster each day, knowing that I am qualified and passionate about the job and the next minute knowing that I am trying in vain and probably shouldn't be their teacher.

Last week, I was feeling down on my drive to school when all of a sudden a wet substance, also known as rain, started to hit my windshield. Rain...real, rain for the first time this year. By the time I had reached school, the largest double rainbow I have ever seen was shining in the sky. It was like God was thumping me on the head saying, "Hello, remember me? I've got your back. I promise." So great.

Last week was also Dave's second round of medical school exams. He had worked around the clock for weeks to prepare and ended up with very little sleep when all was said and done. His hard work REALLY paid off. Dave aced another round. He either didn't miss any questions or only one or two on each test. He has scored in almost every case #1 in his entire class. Now you probably think you can guess how proud of him I am, but you are wrong. Triple that and maybe you can come close!

The friday and last day of exams was also Halloween. Dave's class was having a party and we decided to go as long as we didn't have to spend any money on costumes. Hmm...what could we be. I know...each other. I'm not quite sure what possessed us, but we had a great, albeit bizarre, time wearing each other's clothes. As we put the final touches on our "costumes" Dave said, "Hey, what do you think about me shaving off my gotee?" I told him it was completely up to him and in the next thing you knew he was pulling out the razor and going to town.

This event hasn't occurred in the last 6 years.

SO disturbing

Even more disturbing!

The weekend after exams is pure bliss for this Panther Family. We spend every minute together and get the chance to reconnect. This time we capped off our weekend with a hike in the hills around Loma Linda.



What's next: Dave is plugging away again in classes and labs. Right now they are working on the face, which is proving to be VERY complex. For me: today is the last day of parent/teacher conferences and then a long weekend. We only have a few weeks before the Christmas concert so we are just plugging away at getting those notes learned.