During the Thanksgiving weekend, I went with A. and her husband to Huntersville to have Thanksgiving dinner with her family. We went out for a walk in the neighborhood, watched football and played dominoes. A. is my next-door neighbor at school, and teaches world history.

Since then, I've been dealing with ups and downs at school. Thursday was one of the worst days in my life. The second period class was throwing things during class, and one student had the audacity to throw an orange in my direction, but missed and hit a student instead. The next day, eight students were missing from my class (the throwers).

Today I decided to rearrange the classroom, and I went out with E. and her daughter (a cute Grade 1 student) for lunch and shopping at School Tools in between. I found a couple of science books. E. is a math teacher on our team, and works with exceptional (special needs) children.

I am happy to have these two teachers as supportive friends. Without them, I probably would have jumped off a bridge by now.

P.S. A VIF teacher was killed in a car crash earlier this week. She was a second-year teacher in Salisbury, NC. Unfortunate timing: a car in the other direction crossed the median and hit her car head-on. She leaves behind a husband and a young daughter.