I'm baaaaaaaacccckkkk!!!

I just got back from Charleston. It was a really great trip. I got to go with my friend Jessica, and we always get along really well. It's always fun to travel with someone you can have a good time with.

No major events happened. We taxied on the runway in Atlanta on Sunday night for thirty minutes, longer than our 29 minute flight we'd just taken, so that was good times. Monday morning, the girl at the hotel desk gave us the wrong directions to the conference, so we walked about five blocks too far. Tonight, we landed in Atlanta and went to the complete other side of the airport, only to find when we got there, they changed our departure gate to the one right next to the one we had come from. We literally only had to walk five feet. I was not a happy camper trekking back to the other side of the airport. Needless to say, I'll take ALL OF THAT because my plane didn't crash! Yes, once again, I jumped at every noise, and put my head in my hands every time there was the slightest turbulence. I am getting better, though. No flight attendants even talked to me beyond the drink request, so that's progress!!

When I got to the airport in Knoxville, I was greeted by an adorable little boy dressed as a chauffeur, wearing a black suit and sunglasses, holding a sign that said "Mommy". People in the airport were laughing hard! I wish so badly that I had a picture of him in his little outfit. He refused to let Greg take one of him before I got there. It was a great way to come home! He loved the little Delta airplane I brought him home and wanted to sleep with it. He really wants to fly in an airplane!

We got some really great teaching ideas and insights. Got recharged a bit, which is always good. We also came to the realization that frustrations with education are universal. Sometimes I feel like it is only in our school, or county, but as I heard teachers from other states, they are going through the exact same things. It is always comforting to know that you are not alone.

Charleston is such a beautiful city. I had been there once before a couple of years ago on vacation. Jessica and I laughed today as we were eating cheeseburgers in this old diner right across the street from Gucci! Only in the south can you be eating a greasy cheeseburger, sitting in a ripped up booth, and stare across the street into a window with $600 shoes displayed. I love being a southern girl!

We had some great conversations about life and work. Ate some good food. Got lots of free stuff. Learned great new ideas. It was a pretty productive beginning to the week. Now, back to work! A bearable thought because Christmas vacation is in sight! I'm so looking forward to my two week vacation! I love being a teacher!