'twas the night before the first day of school

I have been surviving on a steady diet of Excedrin and Dr. Pepper for the past several days. A few of those days I went to bed without dinner because my lunch made me so sick to my stomach and I developed afternoon migraines. Once I got home from school at 9 p.m., all I wanted to do is sleep. Greg and the kids have survived on whatever Stephanie made them for dinner. One night it was macaroni and cheese. Another night she scrounged salad ingredients. This was particularly amazing since we had not been grocery shopping in over a week. I'm pretty sure the salad consisted of iceberg lettuce, grated cheese, and chopped olives.

The launch of a new school year always does me in with nerves and nightmares. But this year seems to be worse than normal. Last night I had a dream that I let the students go out to the dot to be dismissed, but by the time I followed them out it was dark. They were already gone. In their place were the adult members of a performing choir. They were waiting for me to show them the way to the stage, but would not allow me to stay and see the show. Huh? Then I dreamed the art teacher (but not our actual art teacher) was going to show me how to carve rubber stamps. I was so excited. We gathered our supplies, but the lessons never started. I woke up mad that I didn't learn how to do that. But I guess since I don't actually know how to carve rubber stamps, I could not teach myself if my sleep! Dang!

I'm working on some new things for my classroom - new ways of doing things. I'm nervous about it and I really want to get it right.

I found out the other day that I have a child in my class who is a potential behavior issue. We'll see about that. He's not met the likes of me just yet.

Once school starts, I'll be able to calm down.

Maybe.

Stephanie and Heather are excited for school to start as well. Except tonight after dinner Heather told me she had a belly ache. I think the poor baby is a little bit nervous herself. Either that or I gave everyone food poisoning.

Yesterday the kids got back-to-school hair cuts. Their first day outfits are ironed. Their new back packs are all set with new school supplies. They were sent to bed tonight at a somewhat reasonable hour.

Let the fun begin!