Mission Possible

Today I'm excited because my husband came to school yesterday to talk with our fifth graders about Mars and help prepare them for their Mars Rover competition. Every time I see him present, I think he missed his calling as a teacher.

He is so good at the outreach part of his job because he's so passionate about space exploration. He would answer their questions with questions and thoughtful explanations. It was fun to watch.

On another note, our semester-break time with our college girl is almost up. In a way it seems like we just got her back. This break has been so different for us and her. When we got to Austin on that damp December night, we loaded her stuff into the car, took her to dinner, then dropped her off at the arena so that she could play her clarinet with the basketball band at the women's game before we headed home for the holidays. When we arrived at the front door and she was about to get out of the van, I heard myself say, 

"Be careful crossing the street!" 

Kind of silly, really, telling my nineteen-year-old daughter to be careful crossing a street she's likely crossed countless times on campus this past year and a half without me and my words of wisdom. But once a mom, always a mom, right? Obviously she got there fine, and we got our car parked and our tickets purchased. Here's a clip of some of the tunes they played the game; 

how much FUN are those college kids having?

And, because she's in a marching band, she stayed in Texas for the Alamo Bowl and wasn't able to travel with us on our family vacation. We had to keep remembering that she's not our little girl anymore, that she's an independent young lady who's thriving on her own. That's what we wanted, right? But still, it's been a big change for us, for me. She's ready to launch again, so I have to be ready to see her off. I mean, it's not like we're sending her to Mars, just to Austin. Mission possible, right? 

Now where are those tissues ....