Is it still WINTER??

There are a few things causing me to ask that question today. The first of which is the fact that after a slight fiasco at the holidays, I am in search of a nice warm pair of gloves to wear while I'm driving, so that I don't have to grip the ice cold steering wheel with my bare hands. Now I have some big fuzzy mittens, but they may not be the safest while driving in terms of grip. Therefore, I'm searching for something perhaps in leather. In my quest for said gloves, I stopped a Kohl's yesterday (had already tried Target and they had not a winter accessory to be found). My thinking was that it's mid-January and going to be [what I consider] cold for at least 3 more months. AT LEAST. So I went into Kohl's and what to my wondering eyes should appear in their accessories section?? Nothing but sunglasses and flip-flops!! I was astonished and irritated. I circled for a good 20 minutes before giving up. The only gloves to be found were these creepy gray and brown Vera Wang gloves that went half-way to the elbow. Certainly intended more for a fashion statement than practicality. Why would a store stop selling winter things in the middle of winter? Do they think no one will need gloves past Christmas? I know stores do stupid stuff like that all the time (ex: putting Christmas trees out after 4th of July), but really, come on. Gloves? No gloves. Fortunately I found a pair online from Lands End for a good price. They would have been free from Kohl's because I had store credit, but I guess I'll have to use that on bathing suits and flip flops.

Second thing making me question winter is today's balmy 45-degree temperature. Bring on the flowers! Just kidding. It's amazing how warm 45-degrees feels when it's been 14 for about 3 weeks. I had to laugh at myself walking to my car today because I was thinking how temperate it felt outside. It's proof that everything is relative. In the fall we'd say 45-degrees was freezing, but after suffering temps in the teens for a few weeks 45 is practically summer. Maybe I do need to go back and get those flip flops after all :)

In non-weather-related news, this has been the happiest working week of this school year so far! It's exam week as I mentioned a few posts ago, and our schedule is SWEET. First, Monday was MLK day so there was no school at all. Tuesday was a full day with one exam in the morning, so the rest of our classes were shortened (and extra so because we got a one-hour delay out of that silly little snow I was telling you about). The rest of the week we have two exams a day, split by a 20-minute break, and then we go home! Not only have I had no lessons to plan, but the day ends at 11:10! It's beautiful. Today was probably the best day of all because both exams were my planning periods so I literally had a day with no students. It was like what I wish for every morning walking into school: everyone's there, but when the bell rings no one comes to my class! I just get to sit in silence and get my work done. Then the bell rings again, hallways fill up with loud, obnoxious teenagers, and again, no one comes to my class. I get another block to just sit silently getting work done. When I feel hungry, I have a snack. When I have to pee, I just walk on out of the room and go to the bathroom. I felt like a normal working person! It was magical. These may sound like ridiculous things to be excited about, but normal working people might not understand how nice they have it in their quiet offices on their flex-time schedules, even if they are hard at work all day. Tomorrow will be the end of the sweet-week though. I have two exams to give tomorrow and that's it. We fortunately have a relatively low-key weekend planned so that's nice, especially since I've been sick. And Monday is a professional day since tomorrow ends the 2nd Quarter/1st Semester. I'm SO happy to be half-way through this school year :)

Ok, back to grading.