welcome back ... aaagh! (bloodcurdling scream)

• Started quarter 4 mildly panicked that I had lost the kids' spring picture-taking samples. I remembered picking them up from my box, but that was before spring break. That day seemed eons ago. I rifled through all the papers in my desk drawers. I knew I had put them somewhere safe, but where? Would I have thrown in into the gigantic pile of papers-to-grade (as yet ungraded) that were tumbling around my car trunk? Whew -- checked the car during lunch and found the pictures. Crisis averted.
• How can we have just started quarter 4, but I feel miles behind already? Grades due soon, and I got a paper to write for my required evaluation next week. The topic: routines. Let's just say we could use a few more in my class ... is that enough?  Aah, at least it's a reflection, not a scholarly paper bristling with citations and pompous wording.