Humble pie

Over the past few days, I have had several humbling experiences. Or as a good friend of mine would say, I have eaten several pieces of "humble pie." I love this friend and I also really love pie, so this analogy works well for me.

The first "humble pie" experience came when I decided to hop back on a bike after...um, three months away. It was wonderful to be back on the bike and I remembered all the things I love about biking, but it also hurt in all the places it hurts when you get back on a bike after three months. Yikes.

Then, I decided a day later to head back to the pool after, well, three months of being away. Noticing a trend here? Much like biking, it felt so good to be back in the water and back with a great group of masters swimmers. But again, ouch.

My friend says that eating the pieces of humble pie is good for the soul. I agree and am happy for the experiences. The ironman is a faint glimmer in the distance, but I can see it!

Meanwhile at school, today was a big day in my classroom. A really big day.

Volcano day!

In case you couldn't tell from the picture, today was volcano day in my classroom. If you haven't ever heard of volcano day, don't be alarmed, because it is a day totally created by my students. Volcano day is the day that we "make the volcanoes blow up!"

And by blow up, I mean put baking soda and vinegar inside clay volcanoes and watch them bubble over. While this may seem simple and boring, it is wildly exciting for my kids and they have been counting down the days since we started the unit three weeks ago. They loved it, I loved it, everybody was happy. It was one of those days as a teacher that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside and really good about the work you do. I love those days.

So while my arms and legs and well, everything, are sore from biking and swimming after a long break, I am thankful that after quite a few experiences of eating humble pie at school this year, volcano day was a big success!