stalling

So, I took the day off from teaching today, and I'm sitting in a local cafe watching people as they file in and out on their way to other things. Right now I am supposed to be adapting a script for the version of Alice in Wonderland my 7th graders are going to put on in late April, but instead I am listening to Tori Amos and staring out the window in between writing this.

It is really hard for me to actually get into putting this script together for some reason. I'm just not very excited about it. Last year I directed my 7th grade class in Our Town. An audience member said after last year's show that my kids performed the Thornton Wilder classic with such grace and beauty it made her only want to see kid acted versions of that play forever more. They did do a great job, and it was all about them being able to shine, but with class and elegance. They were beautiful. Nobody thought they could pull it off either. It was easy for me to work with them though because I really have quite a love affair going with that group from last year who are now 8th graders. When they leave the school in a few more months, I swear I am going to have to drink heavily or get on medication to cope with the loss.

Uh oh. Parent alert. I feel so busted. Here I am taking the day off and one of the parents from my 7th grade just walked past. Im sort of ducking behind my laptop right now. O.K., he's getting his coffee and leaving. Close one.

Well, enough stalling. I am off to cut, splice and create. If I do it quick, I can get out and enjoy this beautiful springlike day in Nevada City before its too late, hopefully riding my bike and avoiding mountain lions. I'm deathly, irrationally afraid of them jumping out of nowhere and attacking me, dragging me off into the woods to become another tragedy, but I can't let that stop me.