Down to the wire

I have had a full day. This morning, I had to get caught up on all the mail that came in while we were on vacation, including paying some bills. I finished that just in time to go to the school for my weekly time with the first graders. I had missed them!

The class was attending a science lesson in the High School building when I first arrived. Mary Ellen (their teacher) had told me where they would be, so I joined them there. They were learning about the food chain, including the terms herbivore, carnivore and omnivore. At one point they had a discussion about chickens, including both roosters and hens. The thing that was really great about the conversation was that it included several of the kids offering personal examples of people they know on the island who raise chickens (one of the students has roosters and chickens at home and told the class about them as well). I loved these examples of how the small school and community both support the children's learning - not only do they get to go to the high school science lab room (how many first graders are in school settings which enable that?), but they also have a wonderful classroom - the entire island - in which to learn about nature and animals. Lucky kids!

After finishing up at the school, most of the rest of my day was spent on the phone with multiple people finishing up the final details of a major thing I've been working on for several months now. There was something which needed to be done by 5:00 PM today and it was completed at 4:59. Literally. (Yes, that is becoming a favorite word of mine, but at least I use it correctly, unlike these people!) So, what was this major thing I've been working on, and which came down to the wire to finish? I'll tell you tomorrow.

Here's the photo of the day. What is it?



If you guessed "it's a cupcake - Kati has finally gone over the edge and joined the crazy cupcake people", sorry to disappoint you. It's the top of a flower. A friend brought over the entire flower (stem and all) a couple of days ago, but it fell apart. I thought the splash of color was too pretty to waste (in the winter, I miss flowers) so I put it in a custard cup filled with water to keep it alive. I have enjoyed looking at it for the last few days. Hope your life is colorful, wherever you are!