Cool day in the life of a teacher, today. On Thurs., Andy leaves early to meet up with some of his buds for breakfast, so I just toodle on and treat myself, too. Usually, it's a breakfast combo at Sonic - great bacon- but for some reason today, I went to McDonald's. Drove up, ordered, then went up to the window.

As I sat waiting, I notice someone inside RUNNING over to the window toward me. It was Mario from years gone by; now a man. He had this great big smile on his face, and stuck his hand out the window to shake mine. "How are you?" he asks, as I sit grinning ear to ear. It's such fun to see former students who remember you! We visited just a minute, and I notice he has a string of dollar bills pinned end to end from his pocket. When I ask, he tells me it's his birthday, and before I can stop myself, I ask how old he is. 23 !! He looks just like he did, only a little taller; same goofy smile and twinkly eyes. I added a dollar to his stash, wished him happy birthday, and went off to school.

At 9:40, Jimmy comes in. He's the boy with the cartoon voice I've mentioned before. Well, we start class, and he is on a roll. Soon, he has us all laughing - forget reading, Jimmy's on. He's eating up our giggles, and it just feeds him more. I know, I should've been strict, and kept us on track, but so what?? For today, we had fun. Jimmy left feeling like the next great standup comedian of the world, and the kids and I had our highlight of the day.

This was a good day to be a teacher.