Its a Tortoise

Just when I was sure nobody was going to guess, Deb came in with the right answer.  We are getting a tortoise!  I have a student who breeds them, and he has been asking since the hamster died last year if we wanted one for a pet.  I did a little reading and was a bit concerned about the LARGE size of the species that he breeds. He finally won me over though, by letting me know that he would be happy to take it back when it gets too big to be a class pet.  Given the slow growth rate, that shouldn't happen for a number of years, but I like to have a plan in place.  I hope I'm not emotionally involved by then and redecorating my back yard to accommodate another pet at home. 
Last night was back to school night.  The one where parents go around to all the classes and you give the welcome back speech.  My good friend Meisje was there doing her daughter's schedule as was my husband, doing Anna's schedule.  It is so strange to see people I know outside of school starting to populate my workplace.  It all seems out of context at first, but then it is so nice to see so many familiar friendly faces roaming around all day. 
Speaking of work, I am drowning in it tonight.  It would be nice to get all caught up before the weekend so that I can get some serious sewing machine time logged.  My running has completely disappeared from the radar since school started as well, so I should do something about that soon.  I am checking up on blogs as I can, though the commenting has decreased temporarily.  All will be back to normal soon -- whatever that means these days:)