Hillbilly Mom Looks Ahead

Wow. At the end of the upcoming week, we will be halfway through
first quarter. An eighth of the school year gone! Time flies during the
first semester. We get used to our new schedules/students, we get
back into the routine. October will fly by, with conference days to
give out grades and meet with parents, and the Halloween dances
in all three buildings. And November is (DUH!) Thanksgiving, with
that blessed four-day weekend. After that, it's just a few short
weeks until we're out for Christmas break. Oh, and the possibility
of snow days becomes reality.

January could drag, or it could fly. Depends on the weather forecast.
Sometimes those demon weathermen string us along like an ugly fat
girl with money, just waiting for an invitation to the prom. One year,
we had snow every Thursday afternoon for a month. I'd drive to my
other building, and by the time I'd get there, WOOHOO, school
was cancelled for the rest of the day. And the roads were not clear
by the next morning, so VOILA, three-day weekend. Oh, we paid
for it at the end of the year, but it was nice while it lasted. Another
year, we got a big ol' ice storm followed by snow. Every morning,
that eagerly-awaited call from the emergency phone tree came
through around 5:30. "No school today." WHEEEEE! I think we
missed 8 or 10 days in a row. My buddy Mabel can correct me
if she dares, as she is more detail-oriented than I. But if she dares
correct Hillbilly Mom, we will have to discuss how Mabel gets to
school on days with snow in the forecast.

February is the same as January. Lots of promise for snow days.
And we get Martin Luther King's holiday IF we haven't missed
any days yet, and President's Day. In March, we are eagerly
stuffing the students with information for the upcoming MAP
Test, hoping they can hold it in until time to regurgitate it for
the April exam. April brings not only showers, but Spring Break,
which is only a four-day weekend, but I ain't complainin'. And
May? Well...we have to do inventory, turn in requisitions, sit
through graduation, prepare final grades, and give an address
where we can be reached for the summer.

Wow! The school year is almost over!