Chute

Oh! I'm so glad it's nearly the end of the week. We have a PD day tomorrow (well, they say is a Professional Development day, but really, it is a breakfast, speeches from folks who are retiring from teaching, some rah-rah speaker to motivate us, and then lunch and g'bye!), and it is in a town 1 1/2 hours away. Hard to motivate myself to go given the distance, I tell you, but whatever. Free food. I was once told that food is the lowest form of reward -- in that for any creature (yes I'm talking animals here) that can understand rewards, food is what they respond to best (I'm thinking now of rats in a maze). Ah well, I'm okay with it!
I haven't heard yet if Erica has sent off my paperwork to Ottawa. She said she could, but hasn't emailed confirmation that it is in fact on the way. I've heard from a couple of people that this stage takes about a week, but now I realized that the passport is still going to hold things up. Oh well.
I feel a bit right now like I've been floating down a somewhat turbulent river and am now at a point where the river narrows into a chute and flows fast and heavy, before dumping out in a waterfall to another faster-moving part of river. This is it... the water is flowing so rapidly that I can't stop even if I wanted to (which I don't). And the drop into the next part is coming. The inevitable ups and downs that will carry me along for the next many months through unknown waters. I'm bound to pass (and even get caught up in) unseen snags lurking below the water which will no doubt cause me discouragement and despair. And even knowing that they are there and anticipating the catches will probably not prepare me better to deal with them. But going into this chute right now, getting ready for the drop... my stomach full of butterflies, but I can't wait.