Awards Night
the girl
Upper State Championship
Closing In
We’re in our final three weeks of school — my final three weeks at Hughes. My testing is over: we had three days — three days — of English testing (two reading, one writing). My grades are almost done: English 8 students have one more grade while English I Honors have three. Everything is winding down.
And those three weeks are hardly full weeks: we have another day of testing (math — poor sixth-grade students have two more days of testing because they also have a science test); we have a field trip next Friday; our last two days are half days; I’m missing one day for L’s graduation. And we’re done with Monday. So that means we have about ten more regular days of school. “Are you excited about next year?” seems to be the common refrain from my colleagues, and I freely admit that I am at such peace with this decision that I don’t think excitement is the emotion I’m feeling: confidence, surety. It will be a good thing.
This Saturday, we had the intake for students at the new school, so I got to meet a lot of students and parents. As I told them the plans I have for this class, parents continually told me, “That sounds like a very valuable class.”
Yet every now and then, it really hits me what I’m about to do. I’ve taught at that school for eighteen years now. Seventeen of those years I’ve been in the same room. I’m comfortable there. I have no surprises there. But surprises can be a good thing. I hope to have many of the next year.
We’re also closing in on L’s graduation (May 20) and her departure for college. We’re ordering things (a new laptop that’s actually more powerful than our desktop), planning things (a graduation party that will last an afternoon and evening), discussing things (upcoming exams, upcoming travel), and getting used to the idea of her being gone (not really).
And then there’s the Boy: he’s got concerts and competitions for band; he’s got his own testing worries to stress about (why do we do this to kids?); he’s got a burgeoning social life for which we provide transportation. All this as he closes in on his final year as a middle schooler.
Grad Pictures
Final Competitor
Our Girl
Easter 2025
Good Friday 2025
County Meet
Barefoot
Prom, First Batch
L and her friends let me take some prom pictures of them. This is the first batch I’ll upload here.
Senior Night Track Meet
Sunday
Meet
Scholarship Information
Charleston Spring
We spent yesterday and today in Charleston — a favorite destination when we have a bit of time, a bit of money, and an itch to travel. Only three hours away, it’s a perfect weekend destination.
And even when it’s too cold to go into the water, we have to spend some time on the beach.
We gave the new camera a bit of a workout. It’s a steep learning curve: there are a lot more possibilities than our older cameras (focus modes, for instance), and it’s taking us a while to get used to everything.
Still, the size, the image quality — I think it was a good choice for us as are kids grow up. I won’t be needing to take any more volleyball pictures, and for soccer, I’ll still likely reach for the Nikon given the lens options we have.
Still, for our trip to Greece and Poland this summer, only one camera and one lens.
We took a couple of walks,
I took some pictures of the waves,
and then we headed downtown. The kids wanted to do a little shopping; K and I just split up with them and helped out. Afterward, there was only one place to go before heading back:
Hyman’s — probably the most famous seafood place in Charleston. I almost always order the same thing: there’s only one variant. I’ll always have mussels; I always take the deviled crab; after that, the third is the only variant. Today, I had the salmon croquette. All delicious.
K ate light — too mush sushi the night before.
The Boy, being the Boy, decided to try something new: crawfish. He wasn’t thrilled. He ate them, but decided it was too much work for too little return.
Spring Sports Saturday
A Walk and a Dress
Polska 2011 Revisited
Heading Out for a Walk
The Boy and I headed out for a walk after dinner. We took the dog, we chatted about school, keyboards (as in computer keyboards — a recent interest of the Boy’s), district band tryouts (tomorrow evening), and random topics (as if that list weren’t random enough). It was another of those “how many more times do we do this?” moments. The Girl didn’t go with us because she had gone to her boyfriend’s house to watch a movie with him.
Everyone’s role slowly shifts.