My coworkers are amazing. I'm quite certain that I am steadfastly in love with my teaching partner, Suzanne. Yeah, but there's that. The whole she's a girl thing. LOL.

So, today they ambush me on the playground, Anne and Suzanne. They presented me with a one hour massage session certificate from a hunky Australian, they made sure to point out. LOL. I was really stunned, and so appreciative. There, in the deepest parts of my heart I was thankful. I'm so very fortunate to work with such wonderful people. I really since camaraderie and something even bordering on kinship, especially with Suzanne. You see, they got me the certificate because I was principal for two weeks. There has been a lot, A LOT, of shit going on at work. Quite frankly I haven't written about it here cause there could be legal involvement at some time in the future. But yeah, a lot of shit has gone down at work and thank God my boss is back and he's principle again and I ain't, to use the vernacular.

But, yeah, I love them. I am truly, my heart is truly, mournful that our time together is quickly coming to an end. Soon we will most likely go our own ways. The stress that the death threats and our governing council have brought upon us, not to mention our granting school district breathing down our necks about financial viability things have just proven to much and all of us, in a unanimous voice, have decided to seek employment elsewhere for next school year.

I think I already realize that this will be the group of coworkers I will look back upon with the fondest of memories. Not to knock Houston's crew, but with such a small staff as I work with now you can't help but develop such fondness, or loathing I suppose, but thank goodness in our case we prefer the fond of each other version of things.

If I was a brave person I'd print this and put it in their boxes as a round about thank you for their vote of confidence in me. But I'm not and I'll quietly and individually thank them for their incredibly thoughtful gift.

Hmm. This missive has put me in a somber sort of mood. At least Rick Bayless is on. It's bedtime for me so staying up an extra hour to watch his cultural anthropologist take on a cooking show is definitely a guilty pleasure.

Cultural Anthropology, that was one of those degrees I thought I wasn't smart enough for. Oh if I had it all to do over again. I'd be a cultural anthropologist painter now . . . oh yes, the painting will always be there, and my ethnographies would swirl around that cultural anthropology take on cookbooks too. I'd aim for starting a new magazine under the national geographic label where the food of the culture is the language that is to be examined, appreciated, and sumptuously deciphered and devoured. Dr. Sobo at NMSU, she was a medical anthropologist and her recently published ethnography centered round the Jamaican belief of illness stemming from the blood. What ever the ailment is, what ever symptoms may present, it's always the blood that is at the root cause, if my memory serves. But that was, Jesus, 14 years ago and I was a first semester freshmen and I think honestly I didn't even realize that was the moment when I should have said, �I'm going to be a cultural anthropologist!� Instead I sat there sweltering in a degree that others thought I should major in for 2 � years and then switch to elementary ed after all that course work in travel and tourism. I honestly didn't realize that was when I should have grabbed life by the balls and declared a degree that could truly evoke passion within me.

Today Jose gave me this huge paper cutout of a heart. It has, �Worlds Best Teacher� scrawled awkwardly in the middling upper left hand corner. I've never saved anything from a student before. Ever. But that heart is folded neatly and carefully tucked in it's own pocket in my briefcase.

I was given a great many things today, and I am truly, truly thankful and blessed.