One in the books.

Maybe I'm officially a veteran now, because for once the first day on the job didn't cause my stomach to turn, and it didn't leave me wanting to close my door and just keep out the madness. Oh, sure, there was a bit of cloak and daggering going on in the halls. There were rumors swirling and speculation a'plenty about why X got Y classes, or why Z left for that other school. But really, it all seemed so much milder than in years past. Maybe some of the chief pot-stirrers have mellowed out. Or maybe everyone is just really excited about "Snakes on a Plane" (one member of my household is, and I assure you it ain't me).

You would expect that having our third principal in as many years would be a bad sign, but actually, for the past two years we've been the highest performing high school in the county (o.k., there are only four). Seems it has more to do with needs that other schools had for certain administrator personalities. In any case, our new principal, coming over from the middle school, is younger than I am. He seems fine, but this scares me. He's been in administration for a number of years already, meaning he made the decision quite early in life to go admino. I liken this to someone making the decision early in life to go into politics. Not that there aren't fine politicians and school administrators to be found, but who starts out seeking such avenues in life? Let's just label him an at-risk adult at this point, and make sure the proper governmental agency is monitoring his progress.

There are a few things I could sweat, including the fact that only half of our new textbooks, and no teacher editions/supplemental materials were waiting for us today, and no one seems to know why.

I should also mention that the English department now consists of three women in their fifties (nothing wrong with that!), and me. Strangely, this is a focus group I poll well with at my school - they like to point out my good manners, dont'cha know.

And then, of course, there was the capstone feature of the day: this was the first time I got to enjoy my big perk as Teacher of the Year - parking in the Teacher of the Year spot right by the front doors.

Yep, school's in session.