Back at it, I am. A couple of times during the night I woke up completely confused about where I was... in my very own bed for the first time in two weeks. It felt lovely after all the other futon/floor combinations that I have been "enjoying". Waking up was, of course, an entirely different thing... but it always is. I donned my pretty "use it to get a job where you don't need to use it" suit this morning and set off for Day One of the new school year.

We started the day with a ceremony welcoming the new school principal and new teachers, then began the entrance ceremony for the new 1st (7th) graders. It was practically identical to the graduation ceremony with the same slate of speakers (principal, Board of Education head, Village Head, PTA president, and some other random guy, plus the students themselves). I was struggling to pay attention by the end.. but the new students are pretty entertaining. They are tiny!! Many of them I recognize from visits to the elementary school, and it is funny to see them sitting so pretty in their nice, new, stiff uniforms. There are a couple of girls who need to learn how to sit in a skirt... but on the whole the class was really trying to act like adults.

We sang the school song a couple of times, the national anthem at least once, enjoyed some school cheers, introduced all the teachers and assigned them to their new homerooms (to giggles and groans from the students) and then applauded the new class out the door. It was really quite the ceremony. Jaclyn is over at her school doing the same thing with her new 1st graders... and boy, they must be really tiny! I hope she takes some pictures!!

And it is "finally" Friday. Kind of a strange way to start the year, but I'm not complaining. I am ready to sleep in tomorrow!