Got up this morning and decided it would be a good day to return my school computers to the school.  They have been sitting in a cupboard for over a year now and I'm sure the school has better use for them.  I have been procrastinating going back to the school as honestly, it is hard to go there.  It was early dismissal today so I decided I would wait until the kids were gone and then would drop in and say a few hellos to the teachers.  I had also made some granola bars to drop off as a treat.  For some reason I thought the kids were dismissed at 12:45, however, once I arrived I had to wait until 1:00 for the dismissal bell to ring.  I was parked in the parking lot waiting for the kids to vacate the building  and could watch them leaving.  It is amazing how much they have grown since I last saw them and I was having my usual feelings of melancoly watching them skip down the sidewalk.  I waited for the busses to leave and decided that most of the kids would be gone so got out of my car to head in to the building.  As I reached the front entrance of the school, the doors opened, and out spilled at least 20 kids who were absolutely delighted to see me.  I had several big hugs and then noticed that Simon was in a sling.  I asked what had happened and he answered that he had broken his collar bone skiing.  At this point, another student jumped in and said that he had actually broken it wresting alligators!  Well, we all had a good laugh over that and I realized that these are two of the things I always loved about teaching elementary aged kids.  I don't believe there was a day in my entire career of teaching this age group I didn't have at least one hug and I know that there was something to laugh at every single day!  This I miss!  This I love about young kids!  I finally said my goodbyes and headed in to the building.  The teachers were just getting ready to have a staff meeting.....of course it was appropriate for me to arrive and disrupt it as I think I had a bit of a reputation for causing kaos at meetings.  It was nice to see everyone, even if it was brief.  Back in October I was honored to be recognized as this years recipient of the Terry Fox Award.  As I was leaving the building I stopped to look at the display case in which I was featured.  Thank you to whoever did the write up about me.  I was touched by your words!

From the school I headed to the Winter Club and did my time on the bike.  Today I used the bike that actually is like a virtual ride.  There are gears and a screen and you actually steer the bike around a course.  It was quite a lot of fun and a good workout.  My son Geoff always uses this bike but I had never tried it.  I was hoping to get my bike out on the roads this weekend but have just seen the forecast for the weekend.  Gag....more snow!  Guess that won't be happening for a bit.

Thanks to all who have contacted me and said they would like to come to Schanks on May 25!  I am looking forward to seeing all of you!  It will be a good party!