This first week of school was a little hectic. Between grad school and back-to-school I feel like I'm going a mile a minute. On Thursday, after pure days of doom, gloom and torrential rain I knew I couldn't make myself stay at school late for the 3rd day in a row. As I am driving out of the school parking lot, I see one of my colleagues walking out to Dranesville Road with an umbrella in his hand. Seemed odd to me so I pull up and roll down my window "Hey! What are you doing? Do you need a ride??" My saturated colleague climbs in my jeep (thank goodness for all-weather floor mats ;) ), and he explains that he loaned his car to a friend in need and has been walking the mile+ to & from school. I do a quick mental flash-back, astonished that this co-worker had been trekking in the rain all week and hadn't asked anyone for a ride. I guess it's not easy, especially with people you just met...I'm glad I was at the right place at the right time that day. PAY IT FORWARD. We glide and hydroplane over lots of puddles (more like rivers) before arriving in Reston. I knew we had been getting lots of rain but who knew that so many roads were washed out and closed? Due to all the flooding and road closures, FCPS canceled schools on Friday. Halleujah! What a nice treat.
Friday was spent at the movies, doing homework and lounging. By the time happy hour rolled around, I was itching to get out! All work and no play makes Kel a dull girl. I met my friends (old & new) Chris, Elizabeth (http://guestinmyworld.blogspot.com/) & Mandi at the bar. We shared some beers and lots of laughs (I now have rock-hard abs because of it).
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| Mermaid Hair |
9/11/2011
10 years later. Everyone remembers all the details about where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. I was a sophomore at Langley High School (located .75 miles from the CIA building in Mclean, VA).
I was in Mrs. Morse's Photography class sitting next to two of my best friends - Ashton & Jon. There was no TV in my room but one of my classmates, Emily, ran up to the office to drop off a note to get a pass to leave for a Dr's appointment that day. Emily came down and said "uh a plane crashed into the World Trade Center". A few other students went up to the office to see what was going on and when they came back down - "uhh another plane has hit the other tower." We pulled up the news on the internet and soon realized that the pentagon had been hit by a plane, too. Being so close to the pentagon and the capital city of this great country, lots of my classmates parents worked downtown and in the pentagon. We all pulled out cell phones and were trying to call and text to make sure our loved ones were ok and if they'd heard the news. LHS went into "lockdown" because it was feared the CIA could be the next target. Students started to be pulled out of class, teachers were running down passes to release students to their parents. My dad's office is also in Mclean so he came to pick me up shortly after. He tried to check out Ashley and Brittany (my best friend & her sister) from school, too, since their parent's were far and wouldn't be able to get them soon. My dad and I went back to his office so he could gather some important documents before we went back to LHS to "jailbreak" Ash & Britt. I remember sitting in the car on the way home with tears streaming, realizing that our world as we know it, has been changed forever. Last night and the majority of today has been spent reflecting on those lives and the innocence lost that day. It's funny how life comes full circle, 10 years ago I was a sophomore in HS, now I teach students that age. Thinking back now, I don't know how Mrs. Morse kept it together in front of us kids. I hope I don't ever have to face that test as an educator.
Never Forgotten, Always Grateful.
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