The Effects of 24

I'm closing in on finishing Season Four of 24, and I can definitely tell that it is affecting me.

I was driving to school (back when I was actually teaching - woooo for summer!), and I saw this white van on the side of the road. It was one of those work vans with no side windows - the kind bad guys on 24 are forever using. It pulled on to the road just after I passed by. Oh my word! My hand was practically on my phone before I realized that the 911 call would be really strange. "Um, ya, there's a white van on the side of the road. Only it just pulled onto the road again. GET OUT HERE AS FAST AS YOU CAN! Don't you know it could be housing kidnapped government officials or endangered secret agents or nuclear weapons?!" I settled down, laughed at myself, and continued on my way to school.

Later on I was driving home from school and passed a car with all of its windows down, and someone's sleeves flapping in the wind out of the back seat. OY VAY! Gunmen on the highway! I could practically see the sniper rifle emerging from that back seat and leveled at my head, and I could almost feel the bullets whizzing by me. It's a dangerous commute out there, people! I really need to consider some bulletproof glass.

Of course, then there are the positive, if also somewhat odd, side-affects, like the grin that appears on my face all of a sudden in the grocery store parking lot, as I recall Tony behind that pistol at the crucial moment, or the great hoots of joy I want to break into when I think of Chloe getting that bad guy. Wheeee!

And I think of how safe I feel when I remember Jack Bauer is on the job... until I remember that he isn't. But I console myself by thinking that Jack Bauer-ESQUE people are on the job.

The craziest thing of all of this is that as totally hooked as I get on 24, I haven't watched an episode in over a week! And I only have one and a half left until I finish the season! Oy vay! I've been so ridiculously busy that the nuclear bomb that is whizzing toward some unsuspecting US city is just sitting there in mid-air waiting for me to get back so we can resolve this thing. Phew!

I'm hoping that tonight I'll finally be able to see Jack Bauer save the world yet again. Hurrah!

Help!

People, I need advice. What shoes would be best for kicking around England?! I don't think we're going to be doing much hiking, but we could potentially be on our feet a LOT and I'd like something supportive but not screaming "tourist!" Any seasoned travellers who can weigh in on the issue? Any people who know good footwear? Anyone? Anyone?

GRADUATION!

Last night my dear senior graduated from high school! I was so proud of him, and so thankful to God. I've been so stressed out in the past couple of days, and if I've been stressed I'm sure he must have been going crazy! But it went SO well, and was SUCH a beautiful and worshipful evening. HURRAH!

One reason I was under a lot of pressure was that I was helping him with his graduation speech. Gulp. He refused to let his parents read it (and were they ever blessed when they actually heard it last night!), so the responsibility was mine and mine alone. I did read it out loud to Melissa, though, to get some further input. (As I was reading aloud the line "Now I close the door on my past high school experience" I put my head down on the counter and wailed aloud. I'm going to miss him SO MUCH!) And she had excellent input which I rapidly e-mailed off to my senior. The dear boy had left the writing of his speech for the day before graduation, so things were a little tight:)

I went over to his house a couple hours before the ceremony to put the finishing touches on it, and LO, it was beautiful. He'd done a REALLY good job. Melissa and I had tweaked, but he had done the bulk of the work. Yay for him!

Dad, Mom, Gretchen and KJ all came down for the graduation and I was so happy to have them witness such a big moment in my life and in the life of the school. And then, after the ceremony, they mingled and mingled with all my school people and I shot picture after picture. "Oh my goodness, Dad's talking to a board member!" click click click. It was great fun:) I loved being able to introduce people I've talked about over and over. They really enjoyed it, and they were so blessed by the wonderful ceremony.

As I was driving back home, and they were heading back to NH, I called them and KJ put me on speakerphone and we "debriefed" for a wicked long time. It was such a good time! "What did you talk about with ..." "So and so said this..." "I loved the part when..." "Oh you're right, that student is adorable!" Etc. FUN TIMES!

But most of all I am full of gratitude for God not only for an amazing graduation ceremony, but also for his faithfulness in the past 13 years as He crafted the school and led it along step by step. This was the first ever graduation in the history of the school, you see. They've been adding grades little by little as they went along. It was often a hard journey, but last night saw one of the biggest evidences of fruit to date. May my senior be the first of many!

Closing in on the end...

Saturday I had my First Annual Senior Cookout at the Browns. It was so much fun!! Of course, we have only one senior, so I invited the junior, too, to keep him company. We had a MARvelous time. They were very them, which made me happy. I was afraid they'd clam up around strangers (you know that Melissa...), but instead they leapt right into the conversational fray with stories and jokes and banter with the best of 'em. Hurrah! I'm so thankful.

And now I have ONE more day of teaching! OH my GOODNESS! That went by soooo quickly. I'll still have a bit more work to do in terms of grading and such, but no more classes to teach. Wow.

And yup, that's all I'll write for now. Sorry it's short! Papers (and other things - heh heh heh) are calling.