hold close to yours

i am not teacher of the year.  i have been a serious hag to my 5th and 6th period.  i am trying to whip them back into shape after the departure of my student teacher.  i have been counting down the class periods to winter break since the beginning of december.  so it was a little surprising that i had a stroke of holiday cheer while i was last minute shopping for teacher gifts and decided to throw in a couple bags of holiday nerds for my students.  long story short, those silly nerds gave me a chance to have some great conversations with my students.  some had wonderful plans for the break, and some had sad eyes. too many.  i know many of our students struggle at home, whether it is because they lack food or warmth or, sad as it is, love.  it makes me want to hold close to mine tonight and thank my lucky stars that i have all that i have. 

and here is a picture of a cat in a dress.  a fat cat whose name use to be tiger and now we just call him gordo. i think i will thank my lucky stars for fat cats in dresses too.