I'll give a bit of a recap of the weekend.
Friday at 4 am. Leave Jonestown. Drive to Baltimore Washington International Airport. Flight out at 7:40. Arrive in Orlando, 9:40. Rent van. Pick up cap, gown and tickets. Drive to condo. Stop on the way and get Chipotle. Go to condo. Eat. Change. Drive to Walt Disney World. Get in with the help of Danny, a friend who owes my daughter a favor. Get fast passes to Soarin' at Epcot, walk to Disney Hollywood Studios, ride Tower of Terror, Rockin' Roller Coaster, watch Block Party parade, line up for American Idol Experience, watch that, head back to Epcot, ride Spaceship Earth, Mission Space, grab a bite, ride Soarin', Mexico, and then find spots to view IllumiNations. View IllumiNations. Walk to car, drive home. Crash.
Saturday we leave to commencement at 6:55am (a bit later than I'd like). Get seated. Watch for my daughter. Commencement ends at 11:00. Drop off gown and head home, stopping for lunch on the way. Saturday afternoon, nap. Dinner at Ruth Chris' Steakhouse at 6. Eat like pigs. Back to condo, back to WDW and the Boardwalk. Kids go to Jellyrolls. I go home with Mrs. Miller. Sunday morning. Come home.
That's the abbreviated version. I'll fill in some blanks later.

I'm back

Wow! What a weekend. No prom or class trip but certainly a lot more than I'd expected. Everything went well. We're all back and in one piece. The weather was in the 90's. Here is a picture of the graduate and her family. Proud parents and brother. I guess he's proud anyway.

Personal Day Tomorrow

It's off tomorrow for central Florida. Looking forward to it, but I'm also a bit apprehensive. Hope things all fall into place.

I was at the visitation for Randy Moyer last evening. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.

No one has shown up for period 8/9. I guess they are all in New Jersey riding roller coasters. Looks like the weather has held out for them. I just stuck my head outside and it's rather nice. I was able to get the lawn mowed yesterday. But after that, it poured. This type of weather makes the grass grow really fast. It's two a week!

I really too distracted to write anything profound. I will see everyone on Monday. Hopefully I'll have some pictures from our trip.

Wednesday

Faculty meeting after school. These can at times be a bit tedious but they are necessary. I hope to mow the lawn today. On a personal note, I wish my state income tax refund would come. They've had it long enough. It's mine, and I surely could use some of it for the trip to Florida this weekend. Tomorrow is the senior class trip and for the first time in probably a decade I'm not going. I often tried to tell students how stressful it is for chaperons because we are responsible for each and every student who goes along. I rarely slept well the night before. Tomorrow, I'll stand in the parking lot waving good bye. Good bye!

Yesterday I won a contest and a candy bar. Now people resent me. Deal with it.

I'm nearing the end of The Fountainhead. I'm actually dreading finishing it because I've figured out who the real villain is and I'm afraid he's going to win. I've become sympathetic with most of the characters and I've begun to hate this one. Am I being manipulated by the author?

Mrs. Powers will be in for me on Friday, but the way I figure it, most of my classes will be decimated by prom fever.

I was saddened yesterday to hear that Randy Moyer was killed in an accident. Our kids, particularly his son Lee and my son Ross grew up together and as a result, we spent a great deal of time together. Randy coached quite a few of the teams Ross played on and he was a tremendous teacher and motivator of the kids who played for him. The community will miss him greatly, as will his two sons and wife. He leaves a great legacy. He was a friend to many.

Tell the people you appreciate that you appreciate them. Don't wait until you can't any longer.

Have we ever had an original thought? How easily are we influenced by the things around us? What to we really need? If we see something and everyone has suggested it's good, are we courageous enough to say it's bad? Do we let certain people get away with certain behavior because they are "good"? Do we condemn others for behavior that is "good" because we perceive them as being "bad"?

I'm a bit sad right now.

I'd like the rain to stop. It's boring me. I'd love a bit of sun, not that little peek of sunlight that we saw on Saturday, which came and went, but a few days of sun and warmth.

Is school the beginning or the end of your education? I'd suggest it's the beginning. Often in school, you are told to learn things that someone else has determined to be important for your well being. After school, you learn things that are of value to you. You find that there are things you need to survive in society. For example, you can learn to read maps in classes like geography, but if you must find your way somewhere, you will learn to read maps that way. If you need a certain skill to perform your job, you will learn that skill.

I found this interesting blog from a basketball player who sits the bench for Ohio State. I thought it might make interesting reading for some of you who have nothing better to do than read blogs. Just joking.

Here

I just figured out how to do that. My life is fuller now.

I am getting a bit bogged down with The Fountainhead. We had a class meeting this morning and I just love how everything works out in the end. So next week begins that final stretch for seniors. Leaving school. Starting something new. This morning, one senior young man stopped in my room and suggested that he's frightened of the future. I think that's one of the dangers in life. Being afraid of the unknown.

A friend of mine from elementary and high school spoke of becoming a director in Hollywood. We all kind of laughed because, well, what's a kid from Robesonia thinking when he says he wants to be a director in Hollywood. Seriously. That's like me saying I want to be a rock star.

So after a few years, Fred (I haven't changed his name) disappeared from people's memories. No one seemed to know where he was or what he was doing. Speculation was that he had gone west, but little was known.

A couple summers ago, an elementary classmate put together a little reunion of our elementary school class. Fred was there, and told his story.

After a year at Penn State, he went west and went to college to be a film director and producer, and worked for a few years doing that. After awhile, he formed his own company, producing presentations for industry meetings and the like, so if Microsoft stockholders were meeting, he would put together the presentation. His business grew, he hired more and more people, and he understood well enough to surround himself with really creative and intelligent employees. Today, he is semi retired, has a ranch, three kids, and had bought a pretty neat RV for the trip in. Little kid makes good from Robesonia. He wasn't the smartest kid, he wasn't a nerd, he just wasn't afraid of taking steps that many of us didn't have the guts to take. He had leadership qualities. I think his parents were exceptionally supportive. I think he looked at life differently than most.

Fear of failure is one of the things that is most paralyzing for us. I often get the "what if's." What if this happens or what if that happens, and that's really unhealthy because if you look at everything that could possibly go wrong, you will be paralyzed. Life is a series of chances that we take, but we also need to persevere through the difficult times. We can't give up easily.

For all you blog followers of mine, have a great weekend.