ALL of the state test scores came back today and for the first time EVER, Gallegos is EXEMPLARY! Which is the highest level you can achieve on the state accountability testing system, only 5% of schools score in this bracket... we are one of only a couple in the Houston school district that accomplished this amazing feat that not even the wealthier suburban schools can accomplish, man is it an exciting place to be right now. The kids are ecstatic! I am beyond myself as I cannot believe all that we accomplished, all those after school tutorials, all the Saturday school teaching, all the stress, pressure, anxiety, it has all been worth it, right now, at this time, man it feels good. My two Reading classes, with students in an English speaking class for only the second year (some in one for the first time) had a 100% passing rate!!!!! By far the best Gallegos ESL students have EVER done and among the top not only in the district but the state!!!! I cannot believe the accomplishments of my students, I cry as I write this.

So, life is going well.... it has been a roller coaster of a lot of pain, a lot of stress, a ton of anxiety, and at times so much happiness. Forgive me for not writing over the past two months, but it has been crazy.

I am excited for Harvard, I really have found my groove in Houston and I am sad to be leaving, I know, quite the contrary to my feelings during my first year of being down here. I have grown up and learned a lot about myself since being down in Texas and I feel I am beginning to find Robert.

I am not up to much over the summer. I am going to substitute teach during summer school. I am going to Cancun for a 4 day weekend in June with one of my amazing swim students who came to me a year ago very afraid of the water wanting to become a fearless swimmer, able to snorkel, and enjoy swimming, something she has never been able to do in her 50 years of living. So, to celebrate her success of now being a lap swimmer able to swim for fitness almost a full mile, she is taking me to Cancun to snorkel!

I am going to San Fransisco to join with my mother and sister at my Aunt and Uncle's house for the 4th of July, it will be nice to all be together!

I plan to move in the middle of August, a lot of things are still uncertain, ie. housing, moving arrangements, etc... but it will all get figured out, I am fairly relaxed about it all right now.

In a nutshell, life is going very well at the moment... I miss the NW and all of you reading this, the weather is getting warmer and I am beginning to run and bike again... I still haven't gained any weight back from when I lost it all! I still weigh 164 Ibs, down from the 190 or so I weighed when I graduated from college, yuck!

Miss you all! Sorry for the delay in blog writing and sorry that this is a bunch of randomness, I am trying to write during class while my kids are doing a creative writing assignment.