It is October. My last entry was about 8 months ago. I'm sorry. It has been a difficult time with bad times and some very bad times.

Neko died on September 30. She was sick with an infection which the feline leukemia would not let her fight. Wakana sat up with her all night. Around 3:00 AM I was wakened by a cry of grief and devastation I hope never to hear again.

That afternoon we dug a grave under Neko's favorite mango tree. Whoever graded the lawn used large blocks of coral as fill, blocks which we had to dislodge to make a hole big enough to lay Neko in. She was wrapped in a towel and rested on the cat bed I'd bought some years ago. Wakana included some cat treats and some plumeria flowers as well as the weed that grows around the house that acts like catnip. After we filled the hole we stacked concrete cylinders over her to keep the boonie dogs and wild pigs from digging her up.

We are still grieving. I just went through all the Guam entries pulling out the entries that included news about Neko and her mother as well as Mika and Shawna. It will be a story called Pets in Guam.

In other news I was not renewed at Inarajan Middle School. I did get my teaching certification but too late to ensure my continued service there. I was picked up at the very last minute (and I do mean last minute) by John F Kennedy High School in Tamuning.

I was informed that I had the job at 6:45 PM on Friday, August 15, and the first day of classes was on the following Monday. I spent Monday going through the hiring process and my first day of work was on Tuesday, August 19.

I am teaching English 9 and 10 to "repeaters," kids who have failed those classes already. They all read at very low levels and have a very tenuous grip on the idea of academics. They'd much prefer to sleep or text to friends, or talk or do anything but read and write.

Then about half way through the quarter they changed my schedule to give me one class of real English 9 students. So I have 3 lesson plans to make up every week.

More in a bit...