"What did you do at school today?"

This is my eighth year of teaching. Today may have been the most ridiculous day of my career.

For many,many years my school district has taken Good Friday as a holiday. Sometimes Spring Break coincides with Easter so it's not really an issue, but this year, in the interest of being "politically correct," our school board made it a point not to include Good Friday in our days off. We will have a full week of vacation in April, but regular classes were scheduled for both Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Apparently a lot of employees--teachers, staff, and even bus drivers--were unhappy with the school board's decision to work today. Many were generally upset because of their religious obligations, but most of the angry people seemed to care only because this has always been an off-day in the past and now they had to work. (We receive our district calendar about 18 months in advance; this new schedule may have been inconvenient but it was no surprise.)

The craziness started late last week when it became clear that many of these employess would be taking a personal day. The media ran with it, and daily there was paranoia that kids wouldn't be served lunch and schools would be full of substitutes. Some schools told their high school students that the absence wouldn't count against them so they "shouldn't bother coming."

Parents got wind of all this (it was all over the news this week) and by Thursday it was obvious that we were going to be making some adjustments. But nothing would have prepared me for the attendance today.

I usually teach 106 students on Friday. Today I saw a grand total of 13. My high school with a normal enrollment of 2400 kids? Attendance today was 138. And this was pretty much the standard throughout the district. The rough estimate was that district-wide we saw about 10% of the kids.

On the other hand, all the hype about the teachers skipping school turned out to be a huge overreaction. We were missing 12 teachers at my high school and only 8 at my middle school. But those of us who got up at 5:30, showed up on time with lesson plans prepared? We couldn't teach because these parents chose to buck the system and keep their kids home. I cleaned my classrooms, ordered some supplies, went out to lunch, and chatted with other teachers while our students watched movies and played outside. Your tax dollars at work.

A lot of people are upset with the school board, blaming them for scheduling school in the first place. But what's wrong with these parents? How can this many people just look at the calendar--keeping in mind this is not a federal holiday, most people had to work today--and tell their kids "screw it, school's not that important."

This kind of thing makes it harder and harder for me to set that alarm clock every night.

Quotables

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.

Treasure Island, Indeed

Last week I brought my orchestra students to our state contest. Actually they no longer call it "Contest," instead it's the Music Performance Assessment. The ensemble performs 3 prepared pieces for an audience and a panel of judges. Then you migrate (silently!) to another smaller room and sightread a fourth piece, again in front of an audience and one judge. The kids played extremely well and despite a couple of major transportation snafus it was a really nice day. For lots of reasons, but the biggest one being we earned straight Superior ratings.

Field trips are always a big headache, which is why lots of teachers no longer organize them. You have to find the money, the chaperones, the transportation, the itinerary and meals, and then go through all the paperwork of clearing their absences from school and making sure you have their medical and insurance info. Because I'm a music teacher, I also have the added treat of making sure the students have their instruments, music and other paraphernalia, and double-checking that they're dressed in their proper concert uniform.

Through the chaos of getting the kids organized and on the bus the other day, I failed to notice that my Principal Second Violinist came nattily attired in a pirate shirt.

Humble Pie

There are few positions more vulnerable than standing in a bathroom with your pants down as a stranger accidentally walks in on you.

Unless you're a teacher standing in a bathroom with your pants down as your principal accidentally walks in on you. That's probably worse. I think.

Blasphemy

As a true 80's kid, there are any number of things that are sacred to me that many other people--younger people--wouldn't understand. Snoopy Sno Cone Machines, the He-Man cartoon, original Care Bears, Rainbow Brite, The Facts of Life. These are all experiences from the 80's that we thirty-somethings fondly remember, but deep down we know they weren't any good. It hurts to admit it sometimes, but let's be realistic. Have you watched a re-run of Family Ties? I adored that show as a kid, and now I'm aware that it really kinda sucked.

But there were some truly great things that came out of the 80's. Cheers was a great thing. The Slip'n'Slide. My Little Pony (although my mom wouldn't let me have one because it looked "like a pig fetus." Years later, my younger sister had several.). And Magnum P.I. Magnum was a great thing.

Apparently the carnies think so, too. There we were, walking down the Midway at the Florida State Fair in Tampa. And amidst the run-of-the-mill Gravitron, The Zipper, and the Himalaya, there he was. A poorly painted Thomas Magnum (look at the shape of his head! say it ain't so!) smiling down upon us, most likely trying to solve the mystery of what the hell is really in Deep Fried Pepsi. Either that or wondering why instead of the terrific Mike Post Magnum PI theme song, revelers were spinning around to the tune of Ice, Ice Baby.

*photos courtesy of Marc

Respite

Since Marc's job as a baseball writer doesn't exactly align with that of the public school teacher (I sleep while he's covering a game, he's off from Oct.-Dec. while I'm off from June to August) we have a pretty limited window of chill time together. In honor of the last weekend before spring training, we headed south to Sanibel and Captiva Islands.

We both love traveling, but it's especially refreshing to go somewhere fun and beautiful and realize it's only 3 hours from home. We're pretty lucky to live in an area that's so close to so many great destinations. We spent Friday at Captiva, enjoying a very quiet beach and a decent meal at The Mucky Duck. Saturday was much more thrilling for me, as we spent at least five hours at the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel. The Refuge consists of mangrove swamps, woods, and coastline. There's an 8-mile wildlife drive that you can hike, bike, or drive and it is chock full of great animals and birds. We didn't catch any manatee action on this particular trip, but we did see plenty of pelicans, oyster-digging raccoons, and beautiful salmon-colored spoonbills.



We finished the day with a wonderful late lunch at The Island Cow (coconut grouper sandwich!) before we headed to Sarasota for an evening of microbrews and college basketball.

I'm so glad I found someone who shares the same love of packing up the car at the last minute and heading somewhere new. I have a hunch there will be lots of happy adventures in our future.

Maltese Chicken

I can't get enough of this stuff. I've made it 4 times now, and it's been great every time. Also great? Anything tasty that takes less than hour and isn't completely full of fat.

So here you go. I have done this with both chicken parts (skin on) and regular boneless skinless breasts. Both come out juicy and with plenty of flavor, so if you're opting for the healthier version don't be afraid to try the lean chicken.

Cut Chicken (parts)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup dry red wine (marsala, shiraz, zinfandel)
2 tbsp honey
fresh chopped parsley

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Cook the chicken until golden (about 15 min. per side). Skin side up, cook uncovered till done. Place on platter and set aside.
Spoon fat out of pan. Add wine and honey to skillet. Simmer till reduced to about 1/3 cup, stirring often. Add Salt and Pepper. Pour over chicken and sprinkle with parsley.
* Because of the extra sauce, this is good with rice or mashed potatoes.