Groundhog Day

Hola!

Well Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow yesterday--supposedly that makes it official, hmmm?  There will be 6 more weeks of winter.

SIX WEEKS.  Of course, in New England, six more weeks of winter would be a real treat. Yes, I'm wishing there would only be six more weeks of cold!  Ha.  But I'm dreaming now.  I always reminisce of the good old days of year-round good weather in California! Never mind the traffic, pollution, inner-city school problems, or politics that drive you crazy.  None of that matters at all.  My mind has created a harmonious, peaceful, ideal zen there, where the sun always shines and people live happily ever after.  In other words, utopia. :)

END of JANUARY.  This week we finished January!  HUGE accomplishment.  Really.  That means... drumroll... we made it through January!  Congratulations, Everybody.

JR. DISTRICTS. Kara tried out for "Junior Districts" on Saturday.  It's a regional music weekend where students gather from many different schools, with voice or with an instrument, and practice one whole day together (a Friday in March) and then they perform the next day, for families and friends.  Auditions were yesterday, and they tallied all scores and sent out "the list" last night.  She made one of the choruses!  Very cool.  Congratulations, Kara :)


MIDTERMS. Teresa's semester finished 2 weeks ago, so now she's into Quarter 3 of her Junior year.  She started her test prep for the SAT, to be taken in Early March.  She has quite a few senior friends and a cousin in "wait mode," who have applied to colleges for this fall and are waiting to hear back.  Hard to believe that in a few months, she herself will be filling out college applications.  Whoa!  Not there yet.

NEW PRINCIPAL.  Our high school is undergoing a principal search right now.  We are all crushed that our Principal was snatched away by another school district.  He was stellar.  The committee of parents, teachers and community members went through 43 resumes, narrowed down to 8 they called in to interview, and that came down to 3.  They had Tour Days this past week where they toured the school, had a meeting with parents, had a meeting with students, and then interviewed with the Superintendent last.  We should know in a week or so who our new principal will be.

INTRIGUING BOOK. Frank and I read "Proof of Heaven" by Eben Alexander.  It was incredibly thought-provoking, about a neurosurgeon who went into a coma for 7 days.  His intense and life-changing NDE, or Near Death Experience, completely changed his outlook and belief system.  I found myself nodding over and over again, because his insights made so much sense.  This, coming from a very educated, scientific former non-believer in any kind of afterlife.  It was an amazing book.  I've also just read a handful of reviews on the book: people either love it or call it ridiculous!  For me, it confirmed many things I already felt to be true of the afterlife. I highly recommend it. :)

MORE SNOW. We'll get some more snow this week, I hear.  Today was a little 'dusting,' that amounted to about 2 inches.  It's okay though...it's February! (We made it through January, remember?)

Have a good week :)  Kari