There are moments every once in awhile when I realize just how much I'm supposed to work with middle school students.  This week has been pretty frantic, and my appearance has suffered.  Tuesday, I threw my hair up in a ratty ponytail.  Yesterday, I overslept an hour and a half until my roommate graciously woke me up.  I didn't have time to wash my hair, so I created the rattier ponytail look.  It was not good.  So to make up for lost time, and to celebrate the new fountain of hot water in our house, I decided to shower last night and curl my hair for today.  I got to sleep in a little later this morning and arrived at school with a little extra pep in my step.  I wouldn't be surprised to find out that people had seen me bouncing down the halls as my curls bounced along with me.  Then the middle schoolers showed up.  One of my boys saw me as he walked down the hallway this morning, looked at me with a puzzled expression on his face, and began gesturing as if he was pointing out some poufy hair.  One of my girls, attempting to help him find the words he was looking for, prompted him. "Are you trying to tell her that her hair looks pretty?"  Without pausing, the boy asked me "Did you roll out of bed late this morning?"  

Well, thanks.  Punk.  

It was actually pretty funny.  We shared the story with the rest of his class, and he was joined by another boy who told me that he shared the same opinion.  Later a different boy showed up for class, stopped at the door where I greeted him as I do everyday with an enthusiastic "Howdy," and asked me: "Are you our sub today?"  

Oh goodness.  Apparently the tweens prefer straight hair to curly.  The girls in that class told me that my hair looked like "curly frenchie fries."  Oh the compliments.  

On a completely different note, there are times when I love having friends that live out of town.  It stinks most of the time, but when a best friend lives a few states away, she becomes an instant pen-pal.  I pulled a stack of paper out of our mailbox today and saw Champaign, IL in the return address.  Instant excitement.  I'm thankful to have people in my life who send me packages containing the following: