Keep On Moving On

There seems to have been so much to do and keep up with over the past week (as evidenced by my absence from this blog, among other things) - my head was constantly swimming just thinking about it all...

- Fourth grade volleyball practices started up again. It's been good to be back with the kiddos and helping them work on basic skills. "Can we spike it?" Hmm...let's see if we can just bump it up and over the net first, ok?

- Our school had an in-house field trip on Thursday. It was called Saints Alive, and it was a one woman production. I had my doubts that 75 middle school students could sit still to watch and listen for an hour, but most of them were truly captivated. Many even went home and told their parents about the performance. She was absolutely wonderful, and she was so humble about all of it. (I'm really glad I got motivated to organize that for the kids!)

- Parent/teacher conferences were on Friday - our last ones of the school year! They went well - some conversations surrounding behavior were a little bit harder than others, but the parents were all very responsive. I almost fell out of my chair when one dad told me that his son came home and said, "We should go to Mass as a family more often." (I feel like my work has not been in vain!) The feedback from parents was affirming and helpful - even though the students don't always show it, I think they're thinking a little deeper about those tougher topics and are not afraid to ask questions of our Catholic faith. Now that parent/teacher conferences are over, I feel a little less overwhelmed, especially knowing that spring break is just a week away.

St. Patrick's Day will be lighting up Chicago this weekend with the annual river dye-ing and parade...but this girl is steering clear for the first time in 3 years. (Yes, I went even before I lived in this city.) I went out last night for some good old Catholic fish fry followed by a few stops for birthday drinks with my roommate, sister (coincidentally, it's her birthday too), and friends from Church. It was a lot of fun...but it was a late night, so today is going to be low-key...especially since there is still work to be done tomorrow for the upcoming week.

May the luck o' the Irish be with ye! (Everyone's Irish on Saint Patrick's Day...)