I had a good last couple of days at school. Yesterday, a big group of kids moved my entire classroom to a new room. I figured that they would just move a few things over, but they took every square inch. They made ahuge mess, so several kids volunteered to stay after school to help straighten it up. Two girls stayed until nearly 5, and when I went in to check on them, they had decorated the entire thing for me. They even made me a sign saying "welcome to your new classroom." I told them I was trying not to cry, and I'm not a cryer. It made me want to return next year. It's things like that that make this job worthwhile. More on that later, though.

Yesterday after work, I hung out with Sarah. She and I mey up at her house, then went for a very long walk to Rockridge and back. It was cool to get exercise, have the great conversation and company, and to be in an area of town that I love. When we were finished, we went back to her house and watched Marie Antionette. I actually think it's turning into one of those films that I could see over and over again. She has a big wine collection, so we started out with a nice Chardonney, finishing the entire bottle between the two of us. We also split a bottle of champagne. I was pretty drunk by the time I drove home. Luckily I live only a few blocks away. It was a fun night.

Today I went to the gym and worked out for a bit. I did my best, but I am so unmotivated. I truly need my trainer to kick my ass for me. Maybe I just need to get used to exercising again after all this time.

I then took BART into San Francisco and went shopping around the Embarcadero. I bought a bunch of earrings and a necklace at Liz Claiborne, had iced coffee at Peet's, browsed the magazines at Borders, ate frozen yogurt, and then went to my concert venue a bit early. It was nice being in the city, but it was very windy and icy cold. That's the sucky thing about San Francisco.

I saw three bands: Smoosh, Final Fantasy, and Bloc Party. The first was a trio of adolescent girls who were pretty rockin, but I can live without hearing their album. Final Fantasy was a strange outfit: it's a guy with a violin who somehow still comes out sounding like an indie rocker. I really liked him, so I bought both of his albums. Bloc Party were rockin. They had a lot of energy, so everyone was dancing. I had a really good time!

After the concert, Ryan picked me up and drove me to an Irish pub near Clement St. There we met Stacy. I had my requisite cider, and we tried to chat over the raucus of the Irish band. I was pretty exhausted by then, so I was ready to go after an hour. Stacy drove me home, as we both live in the East Bay. On the way, we stopped at a really good sushi restaurant in Oakland. I love hanging out with him. I have some strong, tight, genuine griendships with most of the people on my staff.

Speaking of which, I'm going over to Bobbi's house tomorrow. She's making me dinner, and I'm going to help her make lowfat muffins. I have a training session in her neck of the woods, so I'll go to her house after that. She also lets me do laundry over there, so I can get that out of the way.

This weekend I'm supposed to be making up my mind as to whether I want to return to work. The principal is giving me Spring Break to decide, but I;m leaning towards staying. I feel bad for all my little melt-downs and the times I nearly quit. However, he didn't support me (or anyone) as much as he could. It's a tough decision, because this school can be a harrowing place. But I love enough of the kids and I'l so close to the staff that leaving would aldo be heartbreaking. It's not a decision I'm going to take lightly.

Well, I really need to get to bed. More tomorrow!

Anne