Random Thought Thursday #4-08

WooHoo! Early out, baby! They sent us home from school at 11:20. It was supposed to be 11:30, but the snow was pouring down and getting on the road. When we passed through a town, the roads were clear. But by the school and out at our house, they were covered. And slick. We even slipped on our gravel road, with rocks still showing through the snow. I hope Mabel made it. I did not think to look and see if she rode the bus today. That's what she does, you know. She rides the school bus when there is snow in the forecast. Come to think of it, I don't even know if Mabel was at school.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled Random Thought Thursday...

I am happy to announce that the illness I thought I was dying from two days ago has virtually disappeared, except for a bit of nasal congestion. The body aches, sore throat, and headache are gone. I attribute my miraculous recovery to two nights of intensive Hot & Sour Soup therapy.



This morning, just as I was changing into my teaching shoes and putting my lunch in my mini-fridge, I heard and odd noise in the hall. It sounded like a balloon popping. I stuck my head out into the hall to investigate, because you can never be too sure that it's just a balloon and not a random school shooting. I spied two Basementia teachers hastily exiting the back door of Newmentia. I'm guessing they were decorating a classroom for somebody's 40th birthday, and something went horribly wrong. Since one of them was a knife-carrying crony, I did not worry any further. Any random shooter would rue the day he tangled with the knife-carrier.

The Pony got off the bus Tuesday near tears, claiming that "Somebody took my coat!" His new hooded camouflage jacket with all the pockets for things like shotgun shells and small game. I got it for half price at a neighboring Devil's Playground two days before Christmas, and had not yet put The Pony's name in it. A colleague who used to teach at Elementia happened to walk into my room at that time. I asked her if it would do any good to call over there and tell them. She said, "I would." So I called the secretary, who put me on hold to intercom Pony's teacher, and then reported, "His teacher says he told her midmorning that he left his coat on the playground, and when he left for OT at the end of the day, he said he would look in lost and found." She also editorialized, "You know how kids look for something. You might want to come over and check out the lost and found box." Hmm...The Pony had told me that at morning recess before school, he set down his pack and put his coat on top. When it was time to go in, only his pack was there. He came in the 4th/5th grade entrance. Later, he asked some boys to look for his coat when they went out. He and the OT teacher looked through lost and found. I loaded The Pony in the LSUV and headed to Elementia. We went to look for the coat. Kids sitting in lines against the wall waiting for late buses said, "Are you looking for your coat, Pony?" He said, "Uh huh." We dug to the bottom of that overflowing 'found' box, and did not find his coat. As we stuffed everything back in, a buddy of Pony's walked by. "Your coat might be on the playground, Pony." I said, "Isn't he one of the boys you asked to look for it?" Pony said, "I guess he didn't have time." I told Pony he was going to all the 4th grade classrooms to look in and ask if anybody had left a coat. We thought they might have picked up the wrong one by mistake. And The Pony is so small, it would not fit any 5th graders, and very few 4th graders. On the way there, The Pony said, "We can check the playground first, but it was not there on the lunch recess." We started out the door on the 2nd/3rd grade hall, because it was closer. I looked through the door window. There were about 6-7 coats on the concrete porch area. One was camouflage. "Hey, I think that's your coat!" The Pony brightened. He shoved the door open and grabbed the coat. Then he said, "Eeewww!" It was soaking wet. There had come a deluge right after lunch. I'm thinking that either a younger kid picked it up by mistake and left it outside at a later recess, or the strong wind blew it off Pony's pack earlier that morning, or an adult found some coats that had blown around the playgound and picked them up to hang them on the rail to dry. Then the wind blew them off the rail. Anyhoo...The Pony's coat was recovered.

6:05 p.m. NO SCHOOL TOMORROW!
I love the emergency phone tree.