Emotional Day

Today has been a day of emotions in many ways. Some emotions today are:

JOY...that our son, Joseph, is celebrating his 18th birthday today! We are very proud of his accomplishments so far. He's a great young man and I'm honored to be his mother.

SORROW...during my colleague Dale's funeral. Her daughter was hurting so much at the loss of her mother. Dale was only 58 years old.

PRIDE...in my students. They did so well on the district math assessment yesterday. Sixteen of my nineteen students scored 90% or higher on the test.

CONCERN...for my friend, Rose, and her family. Her newborn nephew died this morning. Rose is driving in from Nevada tomorrow and has asked me to watch her kids on Sunday while they go to the services. Her heart is breaking and I'm so concerned about her.

SLIGHTLY Anxious...that Christmas is six weeks away. Not too stressed because I am cutting way back on gift giving. But that's another post.

GRATEFUL...to be healthy, employed, and living in a safe and stable home.

THRILLED...with the first quarter report cards for my freshmen sons, Matthew and Michael. Matthew has straight As (with 4 honors classes) and Michael has a 3.7 GPA. I'm RELIEVED that Michael has turned himself around since 8th grade when he struggled to get Cs in some classes and had poor "citizenship" grades because he talked in class too much. His grades were awesome too! I'm so proud of both of them.

"HOMESICK" for the sound of my parents' voices and my childhood home as we approach the holidays.