My Good King

This morning my curious little second-grader pulls this ornament off the tree and asks me a very innocent question. The ornament is one that was made for me by my cousin when I was in middle school, and it has my picture on it (my sixth-grade picture). Here is a photo of the well-worn, once-upon-a-time-glittery ornament: So, he pulls it off the tree and while he's holding it, asks me with an innocent smile on his face, "Is this an artifact?" Obviously he's been learning about artifacts in school. He has been asking me that question often anyway since he learned the term in school a couple of months ago. Of course, I just started howling when he asked me that, and even though I tried to explain what's so funny, the joke is completely lost on him :) Made my day, so I thought it too good to keep to myself! ;)

Sorry. I'm just really overwhelmed right now, and just SO not in the mood to blog. I'll give it another try tonight. I guess the biggest news is that I'm now officially a teacher again :) Part time (whew!), as in Mondays and Fridays. So, I have to share this incredible (and I do mean INCREDIBLE) story with y'all. The irony (and God's twisted sense of humor) are way too over the top for me to pass up. So, four and a half years ago, I got fired from my last teaching job after six years with good evaluations and no forewarning. It's a nice little trick that this district does to avoid paying high salaries to tenured teachers--get rid of them when they're up for tenure; then you can hire a new teacher to take their place and save money. So, it worked out for the best 'cause I got to be a stay-at-home mom for the past three years (that had been my dream for a L-O-N-G time). BUT, time never completely removed the sting of being fired (and to be honest, the res