oh what a crazy, crazy dream I woke up having this morning!

It was such a messed up crazy dream.

Erin and I were running the marathon. I guess it was Sedona, because it wasn't one that we've run before...it was a "new" one, but it certainly didn't look like Sedona. It didn't look like a marathon, either.

There were these pink arrows that we had to find in order to know where to turn, which directions to take. And they were really hard to find. And the course was odd, extremely strange. Parts were up stairs and through hallways and corridors, into buildings and rooms...onto rooftops. I kept missing the arrows and having to turn back.

I had some sort of monitor around my right thigh that was making my knee hurt (it is actually my left knee that is hurting right now) but when I moved it it stopped hurting.

So we kept trying to make it through but it was so damn frustrating. I started getting pissy and complaining to race officials who were at a table (a water station?) and they were pretty pissy right back.

Then Erin was wearing this white flowing dress--like one of those jumper types that girls wore when I was little.

I think that was the image that snapped me out of it and woke me up.

So get this--I literally spent 7 hours today editing/grading research papers and only completed five! Holy crap! I know that this is how long they can take, but I think I was in denial. I was proactive, set it on the calendar to return them to the kids after more than a week (we collected them on Friday, December 1st) but they were in Angie's classroom and I didn't go get my stack (ended up getting WAY more than she did...how did that happen?) until this Friday. Honestly, I didn't have the time or energy to do it until today anyway. But at the rate it is taking me I won't be ready to give them back to them until Wednesday, and that will mean that the grades won't go into the gradebook until after mid-quarter grades are submitted for this report card. But that is just par for the course this year. My time and attention has been so dominated on the Advisories and my other projects. Thank goodness those are on their way off of my plate.

But tomorrow my planning period is GONE because I have the kids who are not going on the 9th Grade Advisory field trip to the Elementary schools. And I haven't given much thought to what we will do. I guess...SSR, lunch, the "Hands Across the Classroom" activity (after a journal write and connections) then...another team builder activity. Goodness knows those kids need some team building type stuff. Maybe I will have them start making some cards so that they can teach their classes about it on Wednesday...?