Friday, November 28, 2014

What a ride!

It has really been a wild few days in the bush—finishing up a school year is always a challenge! I’m in Lusaka waiting for the first big leg of my journey home for Christmas, so I thought I’d take the time to update y’all.

Monday: A very long, very rough rehearsal for the end of term show, a run into Ikelenge,

and leavers party. Have largish plumbing issue—of course this is because I had volunteered to put someone up over end of term! Also find out that my new sewing machine is having issues.

Tuesday: Two rehearsals—things finally started to come together! Ran around like crazy tying off loose ends. Bathroom operational again; mostly! Large mess to clean up though.

Wednesday: Stuff in the classroom for the first part of the morning, 8 students baptized later in the morning,

11 interviews with parents, playing piano for Prize Giving, gulping down some supper, playing for the end of term show, “Every Land Rejoice.”

The show goes well—we’re praying that someone’s heart was stirred by the music and the words. Visit with my guest and then CRASH.

Thursday: Run around tying off loose ends in the morning, take a much needed nap, work on packing, have supper and gift exchange with Jill. Up too late once again—so many things to think through!

Friday: Today! Waiting at the Sakeij 'airport' for the plane...

Then a 3 hour flight in the small plane to Lusaka; it’s HOT down here! Not queasy during the flight; thank You Lord!

Subway for lunch—what a treat! Go with Tanis to the airport to watch her girls while she drops off some bags, then laze around all afternoon.

Tomorrow I fly to Dubai, have a 19 hour layover, and then finally on to Dallas. It’s so good to be going home even though the travel looks daunting and exhausting right now. I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, and that your holiday season is blessed.

Parting shot: My 3rd and 4th grade handwork class made the decorations for the hall Christmas tree this year--they looked so nice!

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Life is a polka...come on and dance, dance, dance!

So, it’s been a rather hairy few days! Here, in brief, is some of the madness in the bush.

* During my senior recorder students ‘play for a grade’ last week, they killed a bat and tried to give me a dead kingfisher to deal with.

* I had a very busy weekend on in which I again made the 66 cup pancake recipe, did a whole lot of dishes, helped with the tea for prayer meeting, and got to hear some lovely music and a great presentation from the Hungarian doctor and his family who are currently serving at Kalene.

* A very quick (about 5 minutes), very scary lighting storm on Saturday took out our big photocopier, the internet, and various other electrical things. Thankfully I made it up from the river with all the kids before the lighting started, and (obviously) our internet is back up and running. The photocopier is in Lusaka, and we’re making do as best we can for exam week without it.

* I finally got my travel down to Lusaka sorted out, and I’ve got a trip within the States booked, but I’m still working through getting back from Lusaka in January.

* I looked at my work permit the other day to find that I was again shorted—I only got a year and four months instead of the two years I was supposed to! So, I’m working on getting my paperwork together for yet another extension. This means I will have to leave my country without my permit, AGAIN, while it’s in Lusaka, and also that we have to track down the elusive local emigration guy to certify some copies for me. Oh the joys!

Well, I need to get back to work—there is so much to do this week! May I find my strength in Him, and bring Him honor and glory with my thoughts, words, and actions this week.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Getting close...

Whew--this week has taken it out of me! I'm so thankful for a weekend off to sleep, get caught up on projects, and to take care of some niggling issues. I spent so much time this week thinking about my trip down to Lusaka and how it would all work out and still have people speaking to me that I dreamed about it one night! Thankfully the decision has simplified a lot in the last few days, so I think I'll be flying out of Lusaka as originally planned, but hopefully making a flying (quite literally!) trip to see a dear friend and some family. I continue to pray that the Lord will work out the details and get me where He wants me when He wants me to be there.

Monday and Tuesday this week was half-term; I was too busy doing things like making Christmas ornaments with the senior girls, enjoying river supervision with knitting, and marking to take many pictures, but here are a few of the kids down at the pool.

This week is our last regular week of school, then it's exam week, and then the odd three days in which we frantically rehearse the program and try and get thing set to rights for the end of the school year. Prayers for strength, wisdom, and endurance for all of the Sakeji staff are greatly appreciated!

Monday, November 3, 2014

2 Things

First of all I forgot to mention that Zambia's president, Michael Sata passed away last Tuesday, so the country is working through what to do next since the vice president doesn't qualify to finish out the term under the constitution. Please pray for Zambia that this will be a peaceful transition, and that we will get an honest, Godly man in office.

Secondly, it's become a real headache trying to get my flights down to Lusaka at the end of term figured out, and I could use some wisdom and patience. Right now it would be ideal if I could get my Emirates ticket changed for departing Lusaka two days earlier, but the cost is pretty staggering. I'm going to call them again next Saturday to see if the price has gone down any before I make my final arrangements. Two days isn't much, but it would allow me my only chance to see a dear friend. Some times living in such a remote spot is a big challenge!

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Last month

How is it November already? How can I have 25 more days to finish off this term, get a program off the ground, and get my Sakeji year squared away? How am I going to be able to wait for the 30 days till I get to see my beloved family and East Texas again?

This week was wild with its own particular challenges, but God is and was good. Our little first grader got his cast off (much to EVERYONE’S relief)!

We had a HUGE rainstory yesterday—2.5 inches according to our rain gauge. I was down at the river with the kids while it was brewing; we just made it up in time! It was the strangest thing; the front had been slowly rumbling in for quite awhile, and then all of a sudden it was sunny to the west and BLACK to the east. Let that teach me to leave my raincoat behind…

My new sewing machine arrived! I’ve been without one for about a year, and I finally used it for the first time today to alter a blouse (something I’m doing a lot of it seems). I. Love. It. I was so sad to lose my faithful old White, but I think Janome and I are going to get along just fine. Of course I do realize that now this means that they will discontinue that brand as well…since my mom and I like it!

This Monday and Tuesday are our second half-term; while it will be kind of nice to have a break from classes, I’m also sorry for yet another interruption. Lord, give me wisdom to know what Your goals for this term are, and to not get stuck on what I wanted instead.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Stand and Sing of Zambia Proud and Free

Sorry for not posting last week, but the week itself was pretty hairy managing the national grade 7 exams and the special service on my weekend on that it just didn’t happen! Suffice it to say that a) I survived the week, b) God is very good, and c) I’m very glad it’s over!

The big event this week was the 50th anniversary celebrations of Zambian Independence. The special service we had on Sunday remembered the road to human freedom as well as being set truly free by the Son of God. On Thursday we had a whole school tea—students, staff and Zambian staff—to say thank you for all the work our staff does for us, and then yesterday, Independence day, was a holiday from school and packed full of activities.

We started out with breakfast, a flag raising and devotional, and then we took some special pictures of the kids dressed up in the colors of the Zambian flag. The school was decorated to make it extra nice with bunting and as many Zambian colored things as we could scrounge up on short notice.

Around 10am we started our Independence Swimming Gala, and I spent 2 hours tramping up and down the side of the pool getting kids to their races on time. I was starting to envy them the still rather cool water! Lunch was at the river, there was a brief break, and the it was back to the pool to finish off the races and to have some silly competitions. When King of the Plank was finished we brought the kids up to school, gave them some tea, and then started on a star orienteering activity. I had never done it before, and I had 6 juniors and a short termer to ‘help’ me find 7 points and collect letters, but I had a good time. I got pretty scratched up while bushwhacking to our first post behind the Ronald’s house (it’s a jungle out there!), but I enjoyed the challenge. The kids and I actually made a pretty good team—I was good at reading the Google Earth map and getting us to the location, and they were good at spotting the posts. No, I didn’t get any pictures as I was to busy scrambling through the bush and keeping some flagging children going! After that it was time for the bonfire. The men had assembled it the day before complete with lots of bamboo. Before it was lit it was this big,

And this is how high the flames got!

I think it gets a little bigger every year… We had a few fireworks as well—when one of the tubes fell over and shot fireworks at the girl’s dorm there was some real excitement as kids scattered out of the way, but no one was hurt thankfully. At the end of the day there was a school full of tired, but happy kids, and some very tired adults. The weather was beautiful (though very hot!), and a good time was had by all.

Parting shot: The flames of the bonfire were reflecting in the windows of the main sitting room—I just wish the picture did it more justice!

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Wow...there isn't anything big to report this week!

I can hardly believe it--it's been a fairly 'normal' week around here!

The kids came back from the Copper Belt very tired, but having had a great time and played well.

I had to break the news that the grade 7 exams start on Monday; no one paniced!

I marked a lot.

I taught a lot.

We had several days where it rained.

This amazing flower randomly came up in my garden-

Right now I'm enjoying a much needed weekend off; even though nothing 'big' happened, the weeks do take their toll! Prayers for me and for my grade 7's next week would be appreciated; the exams are not hard, just rather poorly written. Sometimes there isn't a right answer given! They cover material that is not in the Zambian curriculum, and contain questions like these:

"Which of these lines can be drawn as boarder lines?" They show a fine dashed line, a zig-zag line, a larger dashed line, and a solid line. Um...all of them?

"Which of the following is not part of the solar system?" A. The asteroids, B. The comets, C. the stars, D, The sun. ?!?!

And these are some put these sentences in the right order questions-

"One day Musonda decided to go and catch fish. When he arrived at the river, he was hit by a crocodile and died. His body was found by fishermen." --How is one hit by a crocodile I'd like to know?

Oh well, I have no worries about our kids passing, and while making up answer keys can be rather frustrating, it is good for a laugh. May next week be as 'boring!'

Friday, October 3, 2014

A birthday party, new chairs, and another broken arm

Well, the craziness that is this term continues! Today is the first day of our first half-term; the grade 7-9’s are down on the Copper Belt competing against some other private schools down there, and everyone else is enjoying the time out of the classroom and down at the river. I found out this morning that the national grade 7 exams start October 13, two weeks before I thought they would based on previous years scheduling, so when my kids come back they are going to have to be ready to dive right in and get to it! Then at tea time, one of the main kitchen staff wiped out on his motorcycle and broke his arm as well as banging himself up pretty good. So, he had to be taken to Kalene, and we’re working through adjusting. We are sure getting a battering this term, but God continues to be good. We are being driving to a place of greater need of Him than ever before, but is that such a bad thing?

On a more positive note, we had our Dr. Seuss birthday party last week—while I was struggling with recovering from a cold and a nasty, lingering stomach bug, the kids had a good time. There were Truffula trees and Seuss characters decorating our pillars,

And as usual the kids had a great time!

Also, the main sitting room was officially used for the first time this week—just in time for half term! Here are a few pictures of the finished product:

There are some odds and ends to finish off, a piano to move, and a few other details, but it’s so nice to have the space back! The new chairs are also a huge improvement—comfortable and affordable furniture is rather hard to come by out here.

Well, that’s all for now. Who knows what adventures next week will bring?

Monday, September 29, 2014

September Newsletter

Even though we are just four weeks into it, this school term has been very challenging and is stretching me in many different ways. Two of our permanent staff members are away on furlough right now, which means that there are lots of extra jobs to pick up and responsibilities to take on. It’s always amazing to me to find out how many little acts of service other people quietly do—you only notice when they aren’t being done any more! Praise the Lord though, He sent us two short termers who are being a huge help and blessing to us. Then, right as school started, we received word that one of our second grade students had been ill over the holiday, but would hopefully be joining us before the end of the week. A few days later we received the shocking news that he had just been killed in a car accident. While there haven’t been mass outpourings of grief from the students, there have been many little signs that the news impacted them deeply and that they are still thinking about it. How we pray that this tragedy will result in more intentional lives from our student who are already saved, and conviction in the lives of those who are not. How often we forget that our days are not ours to number, and that any day could be our last opportunity to serve the Lord and impact one of these precious lives. Third term is always busy, and this year is no exception! The students had fun preparing for the Dr. Seuss themed birthday party and now the next big event is half-term and the Copper Belt Sports Tour at the beginning of October. Our grade 7-9 students will travel down to compete against Amano Christian School and at least two other private schools in netball and soccer. It’s so good for our kids to have the chance to measure themselves against other athletes and practice their sportsmanship skills. Now that birthday party preparations are over, work on the end of term show will being. This year our theme is Christmas around the world. Later in the term my grade 7 students will be writing their national exams, so we are covering some specifically Zambian topics in class and starting to work through old exams in preparation. I have no worries about my students being able to come through with flying colors, but there is a lot of pressure put on them by their parents to do well. The main sitting room renovation project is drawing to a close; the door and windows were finally installed last week, most of the wiring is done, and the finishing touches such as painting and tiling are well underway. It will be such a blessing to have that space back; it’s one of the main hubs of school life. The kids gather there for video and music nights, we use it for staff meetings, evening fellowships, and other special events, and especially as the rains start up again it’s nice to have a place that is big enough to do things with large groups of kids. It’s been a long process, but we hope to get things finished off this term. Even though things have been more challenging than usual this term, it’s been really neat to see God working in and through us. We are always praying for either more staff to help us serve, or for extra grace, patience, and strength. I’ve been so amazed at how God has answered that prayer over the last few weeks. It would be so easy to become stressed and irritable with each other because of all the extra ‘stuff’ in our lives right now, but God is helping each of us to have an extra measure of gracious patience and love. While no one enjoys going through a stretching experience, I’m learning all over again that when the Lord calls you to do something hard He does not leave you without the resources to accomplish it. Praise Him for His faithfulness and goodness to His servants! Thanks again for all the support and prayers you send my way. I so appreciate knowing that people are thinking of me and Sakeji, and hearing from you about what God is doing in your lives. I couldn’t serve as effectively without you. May He find us faithful wherever He has called us to be!

Friday, September 19, 2014

Sakeji Convalescent School

Well, it's been another interesting week here at the school! Wouldn't want to get bored or something... One of my sixth grade students sprained her ankle pretty good early in the week, and has been clicking about on crutches ever since.

Then, on Wednesday this little guy took a tumble off the teeter-totter down at the river and broke his arm. Rough stuff when you're in grade one and it's your right arm!

For some good news, the main sitting room is getting ever closer to completion! Today was a rather stressful day on the site; they installed the bit window up top, and had a bit of a crisis with the door being to tall for the doorway. Not sure what they did about the door, but as you can see it now fits and is installed. I've never seen a door that opens like that before; I'll post another picture of it in action and up close.

The other big news around here is that yesterday, September 18th, was our first real rain of the season. It rained pretty hard for over an hour, and once it stopped all the frogs living in the ditch beside my house broke forth in songs of joy. I was pretty excited myself--the land is so dry right now, and the smell of the first rains in Africa will probably be worked into a corner of heaven somewhere. Hopefully we have another good rainy season! This also means that the months of fanatically unplugging everything of value to you have begun... Oh well, I'm still excited about the rain!

Monday, September 15, 2014

Settling in and a field trip

Whew—I had all these grand plans for how I was going to get caught up on everything over the weekend, and I ended up taking some very needed naps and getting sort of caught up on some things. Once again my days are all too short, and I find myself trying to juggle having a semblance of a ‘life’ outside of school things and getting enough sleep. It was a good week though—God continues to give me extra grace and patience, and thankfully my students are still somewhat the whole school thing!

One thing that was I working on just before school started, was making some curtains for the new boys dorm at the orphanage down the road. I was finishing the brown curtains for the boys room,

and these pink and chetengi curtains for the dorm mom’s room.

I don’t have the time during the term to go help out at the orphanage, but I really felt the Lord calling me to do this project for them, and it ended up being a real blessing to me in more ways than one. For one thing, it was a great way to enjoy listening to some great podcasts and get spiritually refreshed for the term!

Last week there was a rare opportunity to take my students of a field trip! Some people from the Zambian arts council were in the area teaching the local craftsmen how to improve and market their goods, so we took the grade 1-3 and 6-9 students out to have a look. It was so neat to see people actually making these things, and to see the new splashes of color the arts people were encouraging the craftsmen to use. Who knew that the black they get for the chairs comes from mud!

We are all finding the rhythm of school again, and the kids seem to be settling in well. While there are still some effects of the loss of our grade 2 student, the kids seem to be handling things pretty well. Perhaps this tragedy will help turn some hearts towards the Lord.

Parting shot: Hazel is enjoying all the leaf piles that were left for her to snuggle up in!

Sunday, September 7, 2014

A hard week

Wednesday was our first day of school, and all this week has been full of tweaking things, finding out things that our two staff members who are away used to do because they aren't being done, and getting the kids and ourselves settled back into the school routine. I feel like I've been running around putting out fires all week, but hopefully once we've gone through a full week of classes things will be less wild. Third term is especially challenging since there is no rolling things over to the next term--IT MUST BE FINISHED. God has been very good though, and He has given strength, grace, and a joy in serving that has made these days easier.

On top of the regular beginning of term challenges, we have suffered two losses to our student body this week. Two of our students didn't make it up at the beginning of term; one of our second grade boys was sick, and a fifth grade boy just didn't show up. Further communications with the fifth graders family confirmed that he will now be attending a different school. It's hard to not have had a chance to say goodbye--for us and him I'm sure, but we pray for God's workings in that young life.

On Friday we got the news that our second grade boy was supposed to be traveling up to the school soon, but had been in a car accident and killed. This student had only been here two terms, but his loss has shaken students and staff alike. It hit me how much we take it for granted that all our our students will return to us whole and well; who would ever have guessed that we would never see this child again? How we staff members pray that this will shake up our students and turn their thoughts to spiritual things. How we pray that the Lord will bring good out of this tragedy into the lives of that family. And how we pray that we might not miss any opportunities to make an impact on these young lives. As far as I know that student had not made a profession for Christ, but only the Lord knows the heart. Perhaps he had heard and believed at some point this year; I sure hope so.

Despite that rather sobering note to the week, the rest of our students seem to be settling in well. We had our first Latin lesson of the term, and I started our first literature book, The Hobbit. Not only is this a favorite story of mine, but I think it's so critical to teach these middle school students who to distinguish good fiction from bad. I've been really encouraged by a few discussions I've had with students this week over various things--God is so good to give us little glimpses of the fruit He's bringing about in their lives! I pray that I will have the wisdom to listen and counsel these young people and help them to develop not just their faith, but also their minds for the glory of Christ. May we not grow weary of doing good!

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Playing catch up...

I meant to write a blog entry at the end of last week, but I got side-tracked and went away for the weekend, so what with one thing and another I get to cover two weeks news at once!

Last week one of my big projects was to host a ladies tea with Jill for a local bible study. We had a lot of fun setting up a nice table, making some goodies, and then serving these sweet ladies.

In all there were thirteen ladies and a baby who came; notice how packed the Patrol was!

I was so tickled to hear them singing away at the top of their voices as they arrived at the school and went back to their village. What a privilege to share an afternoon with God’s people!

Last weekend I was able to get off station for a little while by going to the next mission station over and be spoiled by the lovely Marilyn. I got to enjoy sitting on their lovely porch and enjoy the view of the hill. Sadly, the weekend was over all too soon and it was bumpity bump back to Sakeji with three barrels of av gas in the back of the truck!

This week I’ve been trying to get as many of my projects off my list as possible, start the ‘hard core’ prep for the term, and getting to know/cooking for the two new short termers who arrived early this week.

A major project that I have been tackling is tracking down all the music for the end of term show—easier said than done when you have to rely on digital downloads only! I think I’ve pretty much got things sorted, and since one of the things Jill and I did last weekend was finalize the program, we’re actually in really good shape.

Another major project that I’ve been working on is getting my handwork supplies organized. My girls are going to be making the ornaments that will adorn our school Christmas tree, so I’ve been doing a lot of plastic canvass cutting!

I’m also working on refining the stocking requirement to make this as easy of a process as possible. I continually learn as I teach these 3rd and 4th grade girls…

Parting Shot: I’m working on my redneck porch decorating scheme…

Saturday, August 16, 2014

This week of holiday

* Hazel, my dog, hurt her back foot, so she has been doing a three-legged hop around the station. This setback does not in any way deter her from her sworn duty to chase lizards, bark a lot at the grass on the other side of the playing field, and play with the visiting kids. Thankfully she’s mostly healed now, so I expect to see her back to her usual speedy self.

* I made breadsticks and English muffins for the first time this week. They both turned out well, and it was good to get to know my new oven a little better.

* I went on a ‘shopping’ trip with Jill into Ikelenge to buy some flour and margarine. I also, much to my surprise, found a lady selling some microfiber cloths in one of the little stalls, so I’m trying those out in my house to see how they do.

* We had a big bonfire last night to get ride of some old books and papers from the music shelf. Jill and I have been tripping over those boxes of trash for months now, and it was so nice to just be outside by the fire, watching the kids roast marshmallows (an interesting revelation of character!), and then talking with Jill.

I’ve had a request for some more pictures of the remodeled sitting room, so here they are. It’s starting to take shape, but there is still a lot of finishing work to do.

Parting shot: My dog ended up with a southern lady eyebrow somehow...

Monday, August 11, 2014

New Stove!

Well, on Saturday Tanis arrived at Sakeji safely, and on Sunday afternoon my new stove was unpacked and hooked up!

I made bread today as well as enjoying my first hot lunch in several days, and it worked beautifully! Praise the Lord for His goodness and provision!

Parting Shot: The eastern sky the last few nights as they burned off a big section of the bush.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

BOOM!

Well, I have had a long love/hate relationship with my stove over the almost 5 years that I have lived in this house. This stove has always been temperamental—not for the faint of heart, but until a few days ago we had a good working relationship. Yes, I have had to turn the propane off at the bottle outside (my to my guests confusion as to why I whip in and out of the kitchen so much) because otherwise it leaks into the kitchen. Yes, most of the knobs have melted to uselessness so I have to keep pliers beside the stove to operate the knobs, but all of those things are work aroundable.

Last Friday I wanted to make pizza for Janette and myself, so I grabbed the pliers to turn on the oven as normal. The knob wouldn’t turn more than just barely on—maximum heat! I fought with it awhile, then exasperatedly managed to produce edible pizza despite the less than ideal conditions. On Monday of this week the fix-it guy comes in, so he took a look at it, did some banging around, and pronounced it good. After he fixed it I deep cleaned it since I realized that was a long overdue chore, and come to think of it I cooked lunch on the stove top on Tuesday. Tuesday evening was when things got interesting…

Jill had just come back from Kalene, so I decided to cook supper for her. I went to light the oven, thought there was more propane smell than usual, but chalked it up to the service. Well, when the propane on the oven ‘poofed’ and the area under the burners lit on fire, I went scurrying out to turn off the propane at the bottle. Not cool! I took the top off the stove, looked around to see if I could find any damage, carefully lit the stove top, and decided it was just the oven. Well, this morning I was doing down some veggies. I had just put the peas into the cold water and had turned away from the stove to grab something when BOOM! there was a big propane explosion! The pot of boiling water was flung across the kitchen as all the burners leapt off the stove top. The closed kitchen door was blown open taking part of the plate with it, (this as after we removed the dangerous bit of loose metal)

pictures flew off the fridge, a plastic bag was partially melted when either the pot or the water hit it, and a window in the dining room that I have never been able to open the whole time I’ve lived here was blown open! Where was I? Right in front of all this! I flew out the door (not noticing that it was open—I was rather shaken), turned off the propane, and shook a little while my gardener gave me a startled look and said, “Eee!” I went back inside and found this:

I don’t know how God worked it out, but even though I was right in front of the blast, I was NOT HURT. The hair on my right arm is a little singed, but with the flame, boiling water, and all the other things flinging about, I was fine! God is so good! When I get to heaven, I want to watch that video replay…

So, it looks like I’ll be needing a new stove… Either that, or the repair guy is trying to kill me! However, it looks like God has that all under control as well—I’ll be sure to post an update later. Right now I’m just so thankful to be alive and unscathed despite being so close to a big explosion!

Saturday, July 26, 2014

In Brief

* Term 2 of 2014 is officially over! The kids were all gone before lunchtime on Thursday, and we staff members are slowly recovering in our various ways. For me, this includes a lot of sleep... I usually find it all I can do to stay awake till lunch time on Thursday!

* Wednesday was a crazy day: parent-teacher interviews, a big scavenger hunt, the annual general meeting, and a bonfire in addition to a morning of finishing off the last few things. Praise the Lord all went well, and I had some good conversations with parents.

* Beth, Bethany, and Sharese flew out this morning--I'm going to miss those girls! They made it safely to Lusaka, and will be flying out over the next few days.

* I got a kick out of this storage area for the grass the school bought last week. Our new container depot!

Parting shot: This was taken on my last river duty of the term.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Bracing for exam week and scolding my cat

This week was far too short of a school week because of half-term, and this coming week is exam week, so I'm spending my last weekend on getting as much work done as I can in between weekend duties. I must say though, that I am SO thankful that I have the last weekend off to attempt to sleep enough to be coherent when I do parent interviews!

I've had to apologize of my cat's meddling with my marking before, but I came home this morning to grab some laundry and found this:

The good news was that the assignment that I need a grade on wasn't harmed! Java seems to get rather passive aggressive as the end of term comes up; I think she resents me being gone so much. And, because she's a cat, there isn't a whole lot I can to do discipline her! She may look innocent, but I am not fooled...