On Friday my family and I had to travel down to Kentucky to attend a funeral for someone very close to us. The drive alone is tiring (about nine hours) plus all of the emotion that comes with having to say goodbye to someone you really care for.
Saturday was a pretty good day in Syracuse though. SU got a big win; Ben Seketa broke a school record in swimming; Bill Gabriel, John DeLallo, and Laura Leff ran well in track; and Jake Pelton saved 51 shots on goal in a four overtime effort against Williamsville North that ended with the Wildcats coming up just short. I had also heard that the Science Fair went very well at Split Rock School, and the Mr. West Genesee pageant was a great success as well. I went to bed happy for all of the kids and their efforts and looked forward to getting back home.
On Sunday morning we were up bright and early and hit the road at 5:50 a.m. Our drive started out uneventful enough but then things got weird. Near Columbus we were not able to get to the on ramp that would get us to Cleveland. There were Police at each of the on ramps that we tried to use. We were then able to see nearly two dozen cars well off the road. Some were flipped, some twisted, and some looked like they had rolled. Black ice for sure. We found a bypass to get us in our correct route and about three hours into our nine hour ride my phone rings. It is our security service calling to let me know that the "waterbug" in our sump pump hole was chirping which means that something was clearly wrong.
A quick call to my parents and brother-in-law lead to what I was afraid of. Our sump pump pipe had sprung a leak and water was spraying all over the basement. They were able to fix it but let me know that I would be coming home to "a mess". Awesome.
Just then the weather started to turn to icy rain, then snow, then icy rain, and then rain. Cars off the road everywhere. Somehow we got ourselves home, tired, needing to grocery shop, and needing to clean the basement.
The moral of the story is that never getting too high or too low about anything are the keys to staying composed. Things can always be better, or worse, and sometimes you just have to work through things to get to the other side. I use this lesson each day as I try to get the budget completed, make many changes that won't be fun for anyone, and still allow us to be on top academically.
Since my last post our office staff, food service manager, and substitute teachers all agreed to our wage freeze proposal. All I can say is THANK YOU. We are only a few groups away from reaching our goal. Who else can say that?
Lastly, on Tuesday I am going to be meeting with the high school students to discuss the results of our bullying survey, facebook, and our budget. Students are more aware than we give them credit for, and I really enjoy the opportunity to meet and discuss things with them face-to-face.
Have a great week.
Chris
