Turkeys, Planes and Classrooms

I am catching my breath. Since last writing on my blog, I have hardly had a chance to do just that.This morning I sit in my very quiet office with the sound of rain on my tin roof and take a deep breath. Emma has gone home. Echoes of "Monkey, Monkey" are a fading memory and I miss her but Monkey is so happy to be alone. I have a book to finish and writing business to attend to. I took a week to go take Emma home and visit Meg, Cody and Paige. I flew all night Sunday night and arrived home at noon on Monday.Sunday I cooked a turkey dinner for my Alberta family and when I got home I cooked one for my New Brunswick family ,another reason for wanting the family to all live in one place.Tuesday I wrote all day and was thankful for every minute. Wednesday I visited Rothesay Park Middle School. In the morning I presented seven ,half hour sessions seeing I believe every student in the school and repeating myself seven times. Luckily what I say is true so I don't have to worry about keeping my lies straight. The kids were wonderful . In the afternoon I did a writing workshop with about 20 kids.What an impressive group of kids. I was in awe of the writing they did with a prompt and only twenty minutes to write. Very tired at the end of day but I came away having had another extremely rewarding day enjoying the best of what it means to be a teacher and a writer. Thank you RPS!Thursday I got up bright and early again and headed to Lakewood Heights Elementary. Just stepping inside the building took me back to the days of being an elementary school teacher. My former self would be thrilled to be dropped in to that building and become a part of the excitement of each new day there. I would have been pleased to join the staff and take over one of those classrooms as my own. But those days are done and now I enter those buildings as an author. And what a thrill that is. Miss Buckley's Grade five class welcomed me warmly and I set about the task of learning their names. Only one name stumped me but it was the name I kept forgetting not the interesting , dark haired boy, full of personality and wonder that possessed it. I met Andrew ,Stephen, Sharbel,Kyle ,Maddie , Jenna , Coleby,Cole, Lexie, Ryan, Casey,Rebecca, Brooke Jade, and Jadyn. I really hope that I didn't forget anybody. If I did please forgive me and let me know and I will talk just about you in my next blog entry.We had a wonderful morning together.The class had just finished reading Ten Thousand Truths and I was more than happy to answer their questions and hear their comments. I read from my other two books , we did a couple of reading/writing activites and before we knew it the morning was over. I got to see them again for a few minutes at the end of the day. In the afternoon I got to meet the other grade five class and had new names to learn. I believe that class was made up of Mya, Sydney,Isaiah,Jack, Haven,Sarah, Kiara,Heather,Casey, Taylor Kennedy,Tyler, Danielle,Emma,Kaleb,Jessica,Ethan, Ryan,and Alyssa.I apologize if I forgot anyone or mixed any of the students from the two classes up.I had another very good session with the second class They have not read any of my books yet but will hopefully get to do so later in the year and I probably could be convinced to come back for another short visit once they do.The school bought my three books for their library and I left feeling like I had been so welcomed at Lakewood Heights. I now look forward to reading the letters the kids wrote to me. So after this Thanksgiving time I give thanks for family, for turkeys, for schools, kids and teachers and again as I so often do for having a chance to be an author.