Field Trip

This is a picture of me with my class, plus a few extras. We have four 4th grade classes, and there were only 3 guides at the place we went to, so we had to split a class. I was supposed to have 5 extra, but I ended up with 8 extra for various reasons. One just decided she didn't want to go with the other class, and the other 2 live in outerspace the majority of the time, so they just went the wrong way. By the time I caught them, the other teacher was gone. Anyways, I haven't talked much about school because, while everyone asks, "How's school going?" I am aware that it's like asking "How are you?" You're generally just looking for a "Fine." But, since we went on a field trip today, I thought some highlights wouldn't hurt. We went to this place called Tallulah Gorge, which was pretty neat. It's this huge gorge (obviously) with a few waterfalls and lakes. It's so pretty because it's up in the mountains with these overlooks that make your knees weak because they're so high. This crazy guy (too tired to remember his name - starts with a W) walked a tight rope across it back in the 70's. So anyways, when we first arrived, one of the busses broke down. Every bit of oil in the bus leaked out all over the parking lot and it wouldn't restart. So, the whole time we were in the museum and hiking and petting snakes they were working on the bus. When it was finally time to go to lunch, the bus still wasn't fixed, so the other bus had to take one group and drop them off, and then come get the rest of us. They finally got the bus fixed, but at that point we were running late. When we were about 5 minutes from school, the principal called me (no clue why I was the chose one - I'm the new one!) on my cell phone to tell me that one of the other busses was being split and as soon as we got to the room we had to figure out what kids were being sent on different busses for the day. Also, fundraiser items had been delivered, so we had to pass those out. So, we ran back to the room 5 minutes before busses had to be loaded to go home. I'm trying to figure out who has to ride a different bus while passing out fundraiser junk and parents from the field trip are in my ear asking if they can go ahead and take their kids. It was all crazy, although it doesn't sound so crazy without me there in person to add in the hand motions and the excitement. I was telling Andy about it and he kinda mentioned that it sounded like a mess, and the sad truth is, it was really just another day. It seems like the end of every day is crazy. Parents call and decide at the last minute they're gonna pick up their kids instead of sending them on the bus, or they decide at the last minute to send their kids home with someone else. I've even gotten a note 2 minutes before it's time to leave from a kid who forgot to give it to me in the morning stating that he needed to ride the bus to a certain address, but the parent has no idea which bus that is. Oh, I could go on and on, but most of you are probably starting to skim at this point and are over the picture of all those kids you know nothing about, so I'll close for now. I have to say, though, as stressful and crazy as it gets, I just love it. And I'm not just saying that the way some people act like their life is perfect when we all know they're full of it. The truth is my house is a disaster, the laundry is piled way too high, and there's nothing I loathe more than house work. But, I really love my job.