Zach and Midori in Ireland

So the kids decide to go to Ireland for Zach' birthday. They saw Blarney Castle, and Zach kissed the Blarney Stone (as if he needed that). Midori did not want to hang backwards from the side of a castle, so she was just an observer. They visited the Guiness factory and brought me some Guiness fudge (really sweet). They visited Waterford and instead of checking out the crystal they went to the Harley shop. They brought me a t-shirt from the Waterford Harley shop. What does it say about the mean one that I would rather have a harley shirt than a piece of crystal from Waterford.
So it goes, the kids were having a great time, but it is just not a good idea to drive in a foreign country. I'm not going to get graphic, or even detailed, let just say it is nearly miraculous when all parties involved walk away from a head on collision with nothing but bruises. Oh the things that turn a mother's hair gray. We are happy they are at home, and safe.
I won an Ipod shuffle in a raffle. I never thought I would want one, now I want to listen to it all the time. Blast the technology! Bye for now, be careful when driving in foreign countries.

Funeral for a fifteen year old

You see, no one in teacher school ever prepares you for the day when one of your freshmen students is killed in a car accident. You get a call in the middle of the night. Then you don't sleep, and you get out of your tortured bed and you get ready to go to school and you aren't sure how you are going to handle your own grief and face your grieving students. In a school of one hundred and twenty, if you aren't friends with this girl, you at least know who she is. There are no counselors at the school to help you, and advise you in how to face these young people. The counselors arrive later for the students, but still no one has advised you about how to cope with it all. You ask the administrator if you are supposed to act in a normal fashion, and he sees you are pretty broken up, so he says to try to keep things as normal as possible, show a movie. Later he makes sure the school counselor checks up on you periodically, you know for support. There is some comfort in knowing neither drugs nor alcohol were involved. The kids were four wheeling and something just went horribly wrong. I'd like to think she was having fun on a beautiful day, and that's the last thing she knew. And still, come sixth period and there is the empty chair. Yesterday I attended a funeral for a fifteen year old.