A Hard Day's Night

It's been a hard day's night, and I've been working like a dog
It's been a hard day's night, I should be sleeping like a log

For those of you who are either at least 55 years old or music aficionados of "oldies," you'll recognize these two lines as the start of an early Beatles hit - It's a Hard Day's Night. (I hate it when I find a song on the radio that I really enjoy and then, after relishing the memories it evokes, listening to the DJ announce it as a "golden oldie")

It's 12:34 am, officially Friday morning. I am creating this Blog late because I've been at work since 7:15 am this yesterday morning. The Board of Education meeting ended a little over two hours ago, but the business manager and I remained afterwards and discussed the budget for awhile (the local paper reported a projected $552,000 reduction in our state aid allocation based on the governor's initial budget proposal). I can never go right to sleep after a Board meeting, no matter what time I get home. There's too much to review in my head, too many summary notes and a lot of reminders for tomorrow's to-do lists. I can't refrain from analyzing the "how come?" and "what for?" reflections of the experience to relax enough to get to sleep for another hour or so - then it's up again to start the next day and report to work for more. At least it will be Friday and I can persevere and then catch up on sleep over the weekend.

It's been a hard day's night, and I've been working like a dog
It's been a hard day's night, I should be sleeping like a log

Today began with cars carefully navigating the road along the front of the school. A road made narrower by high snow banks flanking both sides. Yesterday's heavy snow, mixed with sleet, forced us to use another "snow day" - our third already this school year. By the way many of the learners trudged up the stairs it was apparent that the off day weighed heavy on people. I think we're all getting a little weary of the sustained snow and bitter cold temperatures. The beauty of winter is losing its luster.

The weather has played havoc with our sports schedule. We had to cancel the basketball game Tuesday night due to inclement weather. That was actually a make-up game because the original contest between these same two teams was previously postponed by snow as well. It will be a busy next two weeks as the teams scramble to get in all of the games before the end of the regular season.

The boys varsity lost their game. It was a game interrupted by the acknowledgement of a player entering the exclusive 1,000 point club. The good news didn't continue though as they were unable to contend with the superior height advantage of their guests. The girls varsity team remains unbeaten in the Central Hudson Valley League. They must concentrate and sustain their focus and intensity despite the lack of close competition as they methodically make their way through the season.

The subject of our mentoring session today was exercise and nutrition. These are two important topics as we experience a challenging winter. The cold and snow often combine to discourage children from getting outside and being active. I'm afraid that for too many kids the lure of video games in a warm house is more tempting than bundling up and going out to sled, shovel, or even play in the snow. This became apparent when I quizzed the kids on what they had done yesterday when school was cancelled and they had the whole day to find something too do. We also talked about nutrition and the charts on packaged food products revealing caloric content and vitamins. I'll make a note for next time to be sure to talk about the importance of getting sufficient sleep!

It's been a hard day's night, and I've been working like a dog
It's been a hard day's night, I should be sleeping like a log

I'm going to try to get to sleep before the alarm signals another morning. Good night!