This was the view from our "sleeping loft." I'd follow it with a view of my classroom to make a point, but it would be too depressing.

It's not so bad. Tomorrow begins the sixth-to-the-last week of school. In the past week, I've eaten at eight or nine good restaurants, spent two days that should've been spent at work unrepentantly reading, and enjoyed the adoring benevolence of my Benj. So I will just try to be grateful that I had some nice days off, and not compare them to the asbestos-clogged week on which I now embark.

Also, I could remember how there were termites in the cottage and my allergies made my nose grow two sizes. AND I was constantly afraid of being bitten by a centipede.