As you might remember from being a student (or maybe you are a student), the school year goes in cycles. There are a couple weeks in which nothing is due and then a couple weeks in which everything is due. Newsflash: It works the same way for teachers. When I assign work for my students, I often forget that it all eventually rolls back to me, which is why my 26 seventh graders turned in projects on Monday, 76 ninth graders turned in essays yesterday, and 24 eleventh graders will turn in essays tomorrow. Oops. Being a teacher means that I take work home, and I take work home often. Mitch and I (Have you noticed that I’ve been using real names? Maybe it’s because I’m beginning to trust you, oh ye nameless, faceless other worldly beings readers.) argue about that fairly regularly, or at least every couple weeks when I do this to myself. Do teachers bring more work home than the average worker? I say yes, he says no. Regardless, I still want to be done with my essays, which brings me to an Exciting Event that happened today:

I ordered a new phone case a couple weeks ago and it finally came! Amazon told me that the estimated delivery time was March 19-April 4, and here we are on March 19. Magic. (Wait for it, magic is a theme here.) It came from Hong Kong, which was a surprise, but does explain why I ordered it February 23 and just got it, why the order was not trackable, and why it took so long. Definitely worth the wait, though.

Old phone case (hand-me-down from my mum embellished with a sticker from my large collection of stickers, which dwindles every time I assign essays):

New phone case (that truly expresses who I want to be when I grow up):

It’s the little things in life, right? Not bad for $8 on Amazon. So, the moral of the story is that I really wish I went to Hogwarts. I’d love to be a witch when I grow up. Hermione and I could be best friends. (One of my students told me I looked like her when I chaperoned our Winter Formal last Saturday. I was delighted!) I have a thing for Dumbledore. Who doesn’t love eccentric older gentlemen? Castles have to do with history and therefore are awesome. I bought a pack of Bertie Bots Every Flavor Beans once and tried every flavor. Yes, one tasted like earwax. I have a Hogwarts hoodie. And a Gryffindor scarf. And now a Marauder’s Map phone case. When I need something far away I routinely think Accio! I’m a nerd. Or a wannabe. But I’m proud enough to own it.

Hopefully you still read/like my blog now that I’ve admitted all that.