This won’t be an eloquently worded post, as I have roughly five minutes to tap out some random thoughts before I have to finish polishing my notes for my class tonight.  But in the interest of posting more consistently, I thought I’d better go ahead and post something, no matter how random.

• Nervous, but thrilled that my photography class had enough people register to avoid being canceled again.  Last update from the community education coordinator indicated at least thirteen students.  That is a lovely number for this class.  I’ve had classes with as many as 24 students (which got a little harried because there were quite a few chatty folk and keeping things moving forward was challenging, but we still had a good time), and I’ve had classes with as few as three students (which is challenging, because you don’t have the same level of interaction with such a small class, especially if any of them are shy).
• My girl is turning 18 on Saturday.  She is taking the ACT exam that morning, and in the afternoon we are going to a benefit for the widow and small children of a young man who was fatally injured in a  four-wheeler accident last November.  He was helping to work cattle in a pasture not far from our home, and somehow the four-wheeler flipped.  He was 26 years old.  We’d planned on going for a late lunch or early dinner and a movie, but when she heard about the benefit, she decided that was what she wanted to do.  I love that girl.
• The other day I ran some errands and I looked a bit haggard.  I was presentable, but I didn’t go to a lot of trouble to put on makeup or a nice shirt.  Jeans, old sweatshirt . . . you get the picture.  Jami and I were chatting and I said something to the effect of “Well, I guess I’m tidy enough to avoid ending up on “The People of Wal-Mart” . . .”  We both chuckled at first, and then I got to thinking about it.  If you’ve ever seen any of “The People of Wal-Mart” picture compilations, you know that some of the individuals captured therein probably deserve the negative attention they are getting for the weird get-ups in which they venture forth from their homes.  BUT I have seen pictures of individuals who were just having a bad day — I remember specifically a photo of a slightly overweight woman who appeared to have had an “accident” (in the interest of delicate wording) in her light-colored pants.  I felt sorry for her.  Who knows if she had a medical condition or perhaps the cleaning crew kept her from getting to the ladies’ room in time?  I hated that somehow her picture has provided “entertainment” for people who really need to examine the amount of meanness in their hearts.  I determined from that moment to never look at another post providing “entertainment” at another’s expense.

And now it’s back to my notes, as 6:00 p.m. is not that far away!