"I made carrot ginger soup, but I don't really think that's your kind of thing."

Top 10 Reasons Today Was A Great Day Back In The Real World:

1. Because it was a teacher work day I got to organize random parts of my room, hang up my new Taylor Swift calender, make two new posters that I'm sure will motivate my kids as much as any poster can, and get papers and lessons ready through next week. I feel ready for the new students tomorrow.

2. Sarah Desautels came up to Fishers to meet me for lunch. I loved having her visit my classroom and then taking my lunch break with her. The more I talk to Sarah the more I realize how very cool and unique she is and I love discovering things that we have in common.

3. Kathy, another teacher in my building, is back from a maternity leave. I got to spend time talking to her about adoption and Africa and her son Jesse and the Kisses from Katie story. I so admire heart through this whole adoption story. I helped her figure out the basics of Read 180; a class I used to teach that she is taking over.

4. At the end of the day our entire staff drove out to the site of our new Junior High that is in the process of being built. Everyone wore hard hats (we get to keep them #constructionswag) and got to walk through part of the building. It's crazy that we will be starting a new school year here in just six months.

5. I drove up to camp after school to visit the resident staff reunion that was in process. I wish I could go for the whole thing but some is better than nothing. It was a fun mix of counselors from both villages and all the age groups-- good to see people I haven't since summer.

6. After dinner everyone was hanging out but six of us were playing with the camp kids Liam, Shay and Bryn. We all really miss chasing kids, being chased by little kids, playing dead till they tickle us, swinging them around in a circle, and making them laugh when we're away from camp and our campers.

7. Being with camp friends is always just the best. The shared experience of being counselors together and feeling like camp is home is just something that is so hard to explain.

8. We played running charades--one of my favorite games of all times. Team 4 was stationed in the library and was comprised of Bobby Dorn, Carrie, Lesem, Carolyn, Krafty and I. We won. Perhaps we're a tad bit competitive...

9. I want to work on reconnecting with a couple of my best friends from Hope this semester. Tonight I worked on making that happen during my drive home tonight.

10. Number 10 is a collection of texts, facebook posts, Skype messages and tweets from friends that just made my day. On days like today I just really love technology.