House on the Rock

 The bell finally rang, signaling the end of fifth period and the beginning of fall break. Joe and I mostly just took deep breaths over celebratory Noble Romans - the kinds of deep breaths you take after surviving a near-death experience or finishing  a hundred-yard all-out sprint. That's not to say that the past trimester wasn't good- read my  previous post for proof of that. It's just that we were made for rest. And this time, I felt unprecedentedly desperate for rest.  We spent Friday night packing and praising God for Factory Warranties that allowed my broken transmission to be repaired at no cost. We picked up our Equinox from the service garage and headed for the hills with one goal in mind for fall break: rest. Our drive to North Carolina was nearly seamless. The primary crisis was that by the time we were hungry enough for Chick-Fil-A, we were in the thickest part of the Smokies without a  restaurant in sight. Joe wove through curvy mountain roads while ...

The minutes leading up to the 3:39 bell on the Friday before Fall Break might as well have been hours. I had pretty much resigned to letting my students just hang out as the countdown drug on at the speed of spilling molasses. I thought we'd all be  much happier people if we allowed ourselves an early descent into "Fall Break Mode" rather than fighting our way through Thematic Statement versus Thematic Idea, learning nothing except that the Thematic Idea of the Friday before Fall Break is Low Expectations and the Thematic Statement is Students and teachers alike do not want to do  anything on the Friday before Fall Break. The moral? Don't make them.  My projector didn't even work so we couldn't play our review game; instead I passed out children's books and said, "Try to find the theme of this." They grouped off into breakout rooms and when I walked by, students  were mostly watching Tik Tok or discussing weekend plans. They're good  kids and...

 7:00 rolled around with a backstage dance party, followed by one more group prayer, and finally, the sweetest ceremony  of all time. Dad and I laughed from the lobby as we watched late-arrivers attempt to shuffle in unnoticed and beautiful bridesmaids try not to trip on their gowns. The doors opened, piano music filled the room, and I started my walk down the aisle.  Despite my love's sentimental tears, I couldn't stop laughing. My joy couldn't be contained by a smile and it bubbled out as laughter as I watched my dad and my dude fight the flood of tears. I don't remember much about the ceremony, but I'll recap the best I can. Jeff opened the show with a  beautiful message about joy, love, and commitment. He rattled off two-minutes worth of straight up puns which had the whole crowd laughing. Dad handed me off and we ascended the stairs of the stage, unable to take our eyes off each other (uh, me and Joe, that is. Not my dad and I. that'd be questionable). Past...