September is upon us

I sit in my chilly apartment under a blanket, listening to a new favorite "The Lumineers," longing for a fire in my fire place. I decided that August is too early to have a fire. I needed to wait until at least September. Well, friends, September is tomorrow so you better believe that I will be firing it up and enjoying the first fire of the season with a nice glass of wine mañana. September is a month that I have been looking forward to for awhile now (not only because of the fires) but because we have a three day weekend for the country's independence celebration. I will also be participating in a full out photography weekend next weekend and I travel to Colombia the last week of the month. The school year is now in full swing and I feel like it will be over before any of us know what happened. I have been very happy with how everything has started and how well the teachers have adapted. Rumor has it that there is a chance that starting on Monday, the electric company is going to shut off the power to Xela. I guess the mayor and the company have differing ideas about how much the bill is. No worries, the difference in amount is only Q500,000! Don't believe me? Check out the article here. Despite the issues that might bring, I am focusing on some of the highlights from the first three weeks including

• I walked into the first grade classroom today and they cheered. 
• I had a middle school boy come up to me after school two days ago letting me know how mysterious I was.
• I dealt with an issue with some boys that I had worked with many times in the previous years and all three of them immediately took ownership over their actions and gained big points in my book. 
• There is a very special pre-k kiddo that has been causing some problems so we have been working on some interventions. I have been taking him out for 'movement' breaks and everyday as we walk to the stairs that I am going to make him run, he bends over and picks a flower for me. I have started a small collection in my office.

These are just a few of the things that put a smile on my face. I feel incredibly blessed to be apart of this school year with these kids and this staff.