Report cards

Another Harvest festival come and gone. It's starting to be one of those things where I don't measure how long I've lived here by events anymore because three/four of each one seems like high enough numbers to count. It's been one of those weeks that I've been buoyed by the spirit of my surrounding city- the giants winning the world series, election day, and a parade commemorating the giants' victory. A dinner party cooked by a good friend whose food I've never tasted and the saying "this group will never be together ever again" said twice. Emotional talks when I've cried and realized that teaching is hard, that I can stare at the screen trying to do report cards but not get any closer to figuring out how to actually fill them out.

But the joys in all of it- meeting the co-founder of 826 Valencia in the copy room last week when I was at my wits' end, taking photos in a photo booth with my favorite four and thirteen-year-olds, taking a yoga class in French, arranging books by color on shelves in a new friends' apartments, writing report cards by candlelight at Mojo on a Friday night. This is what got me through the week.