Birthday

Another milestone - I am now of retirement age! I spent my birthday with students from my SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) Club doing leadership training with the National Guard's Drug Reduction Force. These guys are great! They did activities with the kids, then de-briefed and talked about how they could apply what they learned to leadership within the club. Since I won't be there next year, the students wanted to learn all they could about how to lead in my absence. Michael shares a birthday with me, so we planned a day out of school to celebrate!

Sgt. Duke generates ideas for next year's club with some of the student leaders.

Michael is directed through a "mine field" by his partner who is on the other side of the room. Communication is key! Sarah shows Katie where to put her foot as she navigates the "mine field." Sgt. Brandon and others laugh at her attempts to "show" Katie where to move.

Adrian takes her turn at following the directions of her partner.

Daniel and the Tractor

We babysat Daniel while Kat spent time with friends. Daniel played most of the evening with Pop-Pop and spent time learning to work the tractor - getting on and off, driving, and loading the trailer. Fun times!

It's a TRACTOR!!!

Daniel stopped by for a brief visit on his way home from Grandma and Pappy Marquiss's house where Kat and Jason spent the weekend. He found the new toy Pop-pop had for him. He explored it thoroughly, loaded the wagon, and started to learn how to drive it. He soon had it down to a science! (He could still use some steering practice.)


It's big enough for you, too, Luke! You can drive it when you come see Pop-pop this summer.

Springtime in D.C.

Rich and I spent the weekend in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., for a brief get-away. The cherry blossoms were just budding, but the dogwoods were in bloom! We did a lot of walking, visited some fun food stores, and ate in our suite on Saturday evening. Rich enjoyed Dean and Deluca's where we bought little (prices were quite high), and Trader Joe's - where we bought most of our dinner.

We walked along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, spent time at the edge of the Potomac watching high school crewing races, and walked through the beautiful old housing area above the river as far as Dunbarton Oaks where the concept of the United Nations was born. On our way home we drove up Embassy Row and circled the Washington National Cathedral. It was a delightful trip!

A house along the canal

Volunteers were cleaning and painting and getting ready for the canal boat season. The canal had been drained for the winter.

Rowing crews from Gonzaga, Wilson, and Washington Lee high schools compete on the Potomac, with Roosevelt Island in the background.

The flag comes down and the horn blows to mark the finish line.

Two Hours!

I love it when we get a two-hour delay. I get to work fewer hours and it still counts as a day. I have only 60 school days left to work!



The view out our back window has changed drastically. We now have new neighbors who sit high above our back yard. Gone is the privacy we have enjoyed for four and a half years. It's sad, even though we knew it would eventually happen...

Presidents' Day with Daniel

Kat and Daniel came for the weekend and stayed on Presidents' Day to go to the zoo and Hershey Chocolate ride with Pop-pop. They stopped at Red Robin for lunch. Daniel is a particularly finicky eater! He ate lots of French fries, but wouldn't eat any meat until Kat got the idea to put some on a fork for him. He ate several bites after that!

They make me laugh!

One thing I have always loved about working with "gifted" children is that they have a great sense of humor. In this photo, Sam and Tom are reporting on their idea of what an ideal vacation would be like for our seminar on man's changing views of utopia. Tom got tired of holding up the poster, so he became a human easel. Every day they do something new for me to laugh about!