I Gotta Say It Was A Good Day

"Today I didn't even have to use my AK...I gotta say it was a good day." --Ice Cube, It Was A Good Day

I'm not much of a hardcore rap fan, but some days I think of this song. It talks about what a good day is like for him, and it makes me think of what a good day is like for me. Today was a good day.

First, I wasn't working, and I don't care who you are...a day not working is usually a good day (there are exceptions).

Second, I spent the day at my boys' school, doing annual faculty evaluations as part of my Board of Directors work. Every year, we take a day and sit in classes and evaluate how the teachers are doing. This gave me a packed day, as from 8:00 am until 3:00 pm I was either sitting in 30-minute class sessions scheduled for me, frantically working to fill out the eval forms while actually trying to pay attention to what's happening in class; or I was rushing to my next class session to observe, as quickly as possible. I didn't even get a lunch break, but I did have lots of cookies and candy. Fortunately for me, all the activity easily offset any poundage gained. Though I was busy and rushing around all day, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the teachers in action. It was fascinating, seeing the contrasting styles, noting the differences and watching how students were engaged by the different activities and techniques, and seeing the teachers' personalities coming out in the classes. I learned a lot about how education works at the classroom level. I only wish more parents had the opportunity (and willingness) to actually observe classes, and not just the ones their students are in. It is so valuable to experience that objectively and understand how education is actually applied. I hadn't been in an elementary classroom during a "normal" day in over 20 years, and I know they did things a little differently back then.

Third, I scored a MAJOR victory with the Ramcharger today. You might know the background info on the Ramcharger...got it in early February...very old but runs well...still needs some work...needed to pass emissions. Well, today, the time and money I've spent over the past 2 months tuning, shoring up, repairing, replacing, and generally getting dirty and bonding with the truck in a meaningful way, all of that paid off. I took it over to the local emissions testing facility, and...IT PASSED EMISSIONS! So the last bit is to go pay for the tags, and I can finally just drive it for a while, rather than having to worry about if it will be OK. That was a huge weight off my shoulders, getting those results.

Finally, I got our taxes finished and filed, and you all know that's a great thing. We don't get much back, just about $300. In fact, I still owe the Feds from a few years back, so we won't be getting any sort of refund from them for quite some time, because I won't be able to pay that off any time soon. Oh, and thanks to the geniuses here in Colorado being so willing to let the incompetent state government take more of our cash with Referendum C, I owe the state for the third straight year. Until that stupid thing passed, I got a decent refund every year. Not so these days...thanks so much, fellow citizens.

It's actually been a pretty good week so far, because Monday was a decent day, too. Keep those prayers coming! Thanks for reading along.