A Blur

That's the only way I can describe today - it was even more of a blur than the first day usually is. As always there were lots of new things to learn and old lessons to be revisited:

1. You have NO idea what is already established at a building when you first start working there. I never truly appreciated what was already in place until we opened a brand new building today. Almost all of the things we THOUGHT we had figured out will require another look.

2. Teaching 9 and 10 year olds to open a combination lock requires levels of patience never before seen on the first day of school.

3. Putting on "real shoes" for the first time in about 2.5 months makes my feet VERY unhappy. Everybody buy stock in Band-Aid brands!

4. There is no tired that is quite like the first day of school tired.

5. There is no other day that offers as many possibilities as the first day of a new school year.

6. I will NOT judge my students by their actions today. We were all overwhelmed, tired, and trying to get to know each other. We all need some time to figure out our place in the "family" of room 18.

7. A basket of chocolate in the faculty room is a pretty fabulous sight.

8. Finding a basket of chocolate in the faculty room is only topped by finding somebody to massage your feet in the faculty room! (Nope - it didn't happen, but wouldn't that be amazing!)

9. No matter how much trouble you have sleeping the night before the first day of school, you sleep like a ROCK the night before the second day of school.

10. As crazy as things were today, they could have been worse. Everybody was safe, everybody was fed, and despite some minor locker frustrations, everybody seemed to be happy. You cannot ask for anything more than that.

I continue to realize how blessed I am to be part of this new opportunity, and I keep reminding myself that the obstacles we're faced with are only outnumbered by the possibilities that await us.