39, Going Once!

I have officially turned 39 for the first time. I am observing this momentous occasion by taking next week off from work. Well, it's also Spring Break, but I'm going to think of it as an extended celebration.

Today Gym Girl started off my day by bringing me a card she had made on the computer. She's very quiet and caring. Pair that with being the middle child, and she sometimes gets a bit overlooked, but she was the first to think of me today. Adventure Guy had an early appointment and didn't wake me before he left. I had a minor wardrobe crisis, kissed the girls goodbye as they headed for the bus and then dropped Soccer Boy off at before-school care.

I was pleasantly surprised during the day by several people dropping in with birthday wishes. One group of people I supervise brought by a card and a luscious brownie with a bit of cherry filling and white chocolate curls on top. It made for an excellent breakfast! My boss treated me and the other assistant principals to lunch, and my special ed department gave me a card made by the kids and signed by all the teachers and a number of the students.

Of course, work didn't go away just because of my birthday, so I had to deal with the arrival of the drug-sniffing dog (he comes by on random days, not scheduled by us) and a little pre-Spring Break shenanigans when a student got to one of the teacher's computers and sent out an inappropriate message via the "broadcast" function of Microsoft messenger. Fortunately that just went to teacher computers, and technology notified us right away. We were able to get down to the classroom and find out who was responsible before the bell rang to dismiss for the day. There was an article in the local paper this week about community members who had shadowed principals in another district recently. One of the quotes I liked was

"I thought several times, 'How in the heck do they do this?' " America said of principals. "We began our day with a visit from an accreditation officer, and then you have to switch gears to humanitarian. "You've got to have so many skills, and you've got to do everything so fast!"

I couldn't agree more; it's both what I love most and what is most challenging about my job. It is definitely never boring.

Once I left work, I celebrated by buying myself two cute pairs of shoes, one even on sale! I then headed home to get ready for dinner out. Adventure Guy and I joined another couple for dinner tonight at a restaurant I've been wanting to try. We had a wonderful dinner with good friends. It was a great way to end the day.

Tomorrow I'll be heading down to Texas to visit my family and do a bit more celebrating. I hope everyone has a great St. Patrick's Day. Don't forget the green!