In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb (or something like that, anyway)

Still blustery and cold and with more snow in the forecast here in River City, Alberta. The daffodil picture is just to taunt you.

Sorry.

In other news, this week has gone by quickly. Today I was informed that my grade 8 French class is getting two new students. (Not an April fool, unfortunately.) This puts me up to 32 kids in that class, when (despite much scrounging last fall) I only have 30 seats. I told the office that I would just send two kids to them every day, and let admin sort it out... that didn't go over as well as you would think.

Knitting news? About two thirds of a sleeve left, then sewing it all together and knitting the collar. Adjusted date of completion is Sunday.

That's because I have another project in mind: "Elsewhere" is a lovely swingy spring-like cardigan, which looks like just the ticket. (Amy Swenson is the designer, if you want to ask the Google for a picture.)

The boy announced that he wants to have a friend come and sleep over. "He's coming on Friday, mummy," Junior announced. "So you'd better get a substitute on Friday so you can meet us when we get off the bus."

Ah, youth.

Bookishly speaking, I just finished Leanne Lieberman's Gravity. I saw it reviewed in the Globe a while ago and instantly put it on my Amazon wishlist. Sadly, it is never ever ever available for immediate shipping, and I distrust those "Ships in 1 to 2 weeks" messages. They invariably mean "We will ship it whenever we darn well feel like it, and you will be grateful that we do that much, you miserable sod."

Anyway, it was in the school library and I snatched it up. What a fabulous read! It's about a young girl, living in Toronto, who is an orthodox Jew. She is also, while away with her grandmother at a cabin for the summer, experiencing a sexual awakening of the sort she had never imagined - that is to say, she experiences a full-flung infatuation, a coup de foudre, as they say, involving another girl. The main character, Ellie, is desperately trying to find a place for herself in her faith that allows her still to love who she loves. I understand that this is a debut novel, and I hope to see lots more by this author.

That's about all the news from where we stand on Wednesday. Funny how I managed to write something every day last week, in spite of the 10 tonnes of marking, and now I haven't even got the energy to do a proper book review.

Now, if you will excuse me, the French department (that is to say, moi) is meeting in the living room with a bottle of wine, the remote control, and some knitting.