Golf, Hockey, and Soup

My hubs is an avid golf watcher, so he was really looking forward to the official commencement of the new season this weekend. One reason he was extra excited about the start of golf was the NHL lockout - we have both been suffering for lack of Blackhawks viewing! And wouldn't you know it, as soon as golf begins, the NHL finally gets their act together? Double bonus weekend! Sadly, the weather in Hawaii did not lend itself to a successful golf tournament...

In other news, school resumes tomorrow morning. I spent a couple of hours this afternoon completing some odds and ends grading and making sure I'm good to go for tomorrow. I hate to be negative, but this week does not look promising for student motivation and behavior, for the following reasons:

1 - They are bound to be nuts coming off of a two week break. This is a given.
2 - It's a weird week - two days of "normal" class, two days of final exams, then an Institute Day (although yippee! for a four-day kid week!).
3 - You can imagine how seriously junior high kids take final exams.
4 - You can imagine how seriously junior high kids take elective class final exams.
5 - All of my kids leave me after the end of this week, and switch to different elective classes.

It's going to be rough. But, here's my positive list:

1 - Two days of final exams means two days of quiet test-taking time. I'm spreading my exam over two days, so it should be nice and quiet those two days, calming down the crazy.
2 - An Institute Day which is rumored to be a day where we will be allowed to grade our final exams and prep for the beginning of second semester. I've never been at a school that actually does this. Usually this day is filled with all sorts of meetings/trainings/etc, and even when it's useful information that's being disseminated it's a bit hard to concentrate when you're thinking about the 100+ final exams and report card grades that have to be scored and entered by 8am Monday.
3 - Brand new kids means a brand new start! A chance to change/add/subtract all the things I wish I'd done the first couple of weeks in August. One of the bummers about starting at a new school is that you have to wait an entire year for a second shot at starting your class the way you want to - I get my second chance during the first year!

On to soup! At the moment I have a nice big batch of homemade minestrone simmering on the stove, mmm yum. It freezes well, so in addition to tonight's dinner and tomorrow's lunch, it will provide me with lunches off and on throughout the month. I love soup - healthy, nutritious, satisfying. I enjoy all of the chopping; I find it somewhat meditative. I especially love the whimsical nature of soup - once you've got the basics down, you can toss in anything willy-nilly or make random substitutions for missing ingredients, and it still comes out amazing!

Here is one thing that makes soup creation particularly enjoyable for me - my Rachael Ray Bench Scraper. I love this thing!

I used to be a traditionalist and transferred food using my chef's knife, but after using this guy I am a convert. Sorry for the advertisement, but I love how much it can scoop!