Today I learned that the Festival of the Pacific Arts will be held in Guam in 2016. Why not plan a visit then and see the festival and visit us at the same time? Plenty of time to save up for the trip.

I spoke with my parents this morning. My brother is visiting. When I was there he and I went out to gather information on pellet stoves. For those who don't know a pellet burns little pellets of compressed sawdust. You buy it in a 40 pound bag. One pallet costs $250 and carries a ton of the pellets. To feed the stove all you have to do is open the top and dump in the pellets. My brother bought a stove for them and had it installed. they used it the other night and it did a nice job of keeping the house warm. It burned all night. When they opened the hopper in the morning they could not see and appreciable consumption of pellets. I'm hoping this will get them through the winter and help lower their heating costs.

Tomorrow I have to report to work by 7:45 AM! My vacation is over! There will be no kids in the school then but the Freshmen arrive on Tuesday for orientation. The sophomores come in the day after that and then the Juniors. Senior on Friday. My busy day will be on Thursday with the Juniors. Until then I will work on my lesson plans and my room. I need to get it in order for opening day next Monday.

Of course, there is an up side to the resumption of school. My paychecks begin to flow again! Yippee! It's been two months since our last payday and things have been a little skimpy around here. Fortunately I have my retirement pay and the teeny little disability check to get us through the months.

And it will be good to see the kids again. I intend to remind them that they are a year older and consequently they have a little more maturity to draw upon... and they can handle more complicated work!

Oh! My mother told me about an evil trick my brother plays on his kids (he teaches also). He'll walk into class eating a Pop-Tart (a toaster pastry). He'll look at the kids and say, "I'm eating a Pop-Tart but I didn't bring enough for you. But! I do have a pop quiz for you!" He also does the same thing with a soda (pop) and I think he has a jack-in-the-box too. I love it.