Back to Reality

I can't believe Christmas break and beyond went so quickly.  It's great to be back home, but I want to let Jacob and Lauryn (Erin, Jesse and Landon, too) know I had a great time at their house, and I miss you guys!  We love all our kids and grandchildren, and I'm sure  that Bill and I would love to have everyone visit us this summer (hint, hint).  We could have a real party! 
It's weird here in class, as the new semester begins.  With many of my students, it's as if we're starting all over.  Some of them are just as whiney as ever, but I just hope they retained some of what they learned (or not) from last semester.  We begin testing (UBSCT, Utah Basic Skills Competency Test) in a couple of weeks, and my fingers are crossed.
I was getting my last period students ready to take a pretest (for the real thing), and one of them (a boy, a real big boy) came up and wanted to go to the bathroom.  I just hate it when it always seems to be a matter life or death.  I told him no, since we were starting the pretest, and he let me know (and the rest of the class) that he really needed to "go pee."  I told him to wait, since I would have gone up to him and quietly let him leave after we got settled.  I turned my back and he got up and left the room...that smug kid!  I didn't say anything to him when he returned, but when the bell rings to dismiss for the day, he will get to listen to my lecture on patience.