Today I was terribly unproductive. But I guess that’s OK, because I’ve been very productive of late. I was at school until 8:30pm on Thursday and managed to pretty much finish the moving, packing, and sorting that needed doing. Friday, we had our last day of school for the year and the last school day in the original building. I even had the kids do a lab! (Chromatography, using graduated cylinders I was selling at the auction. Heh.)

At quarter til 11am, the band marched through the halls (for the last time) collecting students as it went through all three floors. They led us all out to the front yard, where, in a sea of red (everyone got t-shirts for the day), we watched as the elementary kids filed out after us. Mr. McBride said a few words, we sang the alma mater (quietly since most kids don’t know the words – heck, I only know the first two lines and the last two lines…) and then we dismissed. The teachers then headed for Indian’s Pizza for lunch (courtesy of our principals – yay!) When I returned to the building, I finished the last of the packing & moving, taking my last cart down to the temporary storage before 1pm. Then I spend the rest of my teaching day staging equipment for the auction.

When the principals told us we could go, I headed home and got myself ready for the Relay for Life event. Mom’s workplace participates in this every May to raise money for the American Cancer Society. I had told her that I could actually join her for the first time (it never worked out in the past). Mom’s group, the UVMC Lab, treats it more like a Marathon than a Relay – they arrive at the start & stay til the end. And try to have someone walking at all times (not always that easy to do!) Dad fed us spaghetti and then mom and I raced off to the Miami County Fairgrounds to get cold and wet. (After all of our perfectly golden days, we had a cold front coming through that night).

I’ll tell the rest of the story in pictures…

The Survivors March Before the rest of us began the relay, they had the Survivors walk first. The number of purple shirts was substantial – our party was half purple & half white (or red in my case).

UVMC Lab The UVMC Lab team. About half of this crew stayed the night.

Daisy Dude UVMC Lab’s entry to the Miss Relay competition (where men dress up as ladies and wander the fairgrounds looking for donations) was Daisy Dude. (S)he won, hands down! (Collected $379 in under an hour!)

Daisy Dude, interviewed I couldn’t resist including this photo cuz you can see the belly fur in it. Heh.

Luminaria At 9pm, they turned off the lights and we got to see the luminaria stretching through the hall. (The original shot was centered, but someone walked in front of me. I’d’ve left ’em in, but they were way blurry.) Also at 9pm was the torrential downpour so loud it drowned out the speakers. I was sooooo glad we were inside that building rather than in a tent!

2am We were only somewhat lively at 2am. The 5am shots were even less flattering than these. We had 2 UVMC Lab co-workers who saved us during the night. Around 1:30am was the McDonald’s run, then around 5:30am the Tim Horton’s run. Yay for co-workers willing to get up at weird hours to do our bidding!

Mom and I didn’t stay til noon like some of the UVMC Lab team. We had an auction to go to. So around 6am, mom drove us back to her place where we showered. Then we went to the UCC just down the street from my house where they had pancakes, sausage, and eggs for breakfast. Yum. Then on to the school. Mom found a bulletin board that would work great at her workplace, and I wanted to bid on my chalkboard. And since it was in better shape than mine at home, my office chair.

The auction began at 8am. We were there before 9am but they were only done with about 3 rooms. (They started on the 3rd floor.) Earlier in the week, Sam, one of the auctioneers, said his goal was to be down to the first floor by noon. And he actually did a pretty good job. By 12:30pm, he was down in my lab selling equipment. Dad had since joined us and he was having a great time talking to former students and friends. I called Amy to wish her a happy birthday and it was probably one of my loopier phone calls.

Many folks (including my sister) were VERY disappointed to find out we couldn’t sell the tables from my classroom. The Asbestos Abatement people said we couldn’t sell ’em cuz they contain asbestos. Although they aren’t dangerous to sit at & learn science, we have no guarantee that people won’t try sanding the tops to smooth out the gashes from years of graffiti and later suing the school for lung cancer… Still, there was a lot of stuff for sale. And thanks to someone writing the story on the chalkboard of me writing on the chalkboard when I was a little girl (and no, it wasn’t me or my folks who did this), no one bid against me on it. Got it for $5 (and probably could have gone down to $1, but I figured Sam needed to get something for all his work). Also got my chair for $5. 🙂 (Mom earlier had won the bulletin board for $1.)

After we got the boards down (thanks to some stranger for unscrewing my chalkboard support) and loaded up in dad’s truck, we went home. And by 5pm, I was in bed. Slept til 6am (with the occasional pee break). Felt excellent Sunday morning. So I decided to treat mom to lunch at Red Slobster. And figured we could shop for cruise clothes too. Got several outfits, a swimsuit cover-up, and new shoes. If I’m not used to the shoes by Saturday, they won’t come along. After I got home, I took a walk to the school and took photos of the aftermath. Anything that could be sold was sold (or will go down with the building). And when you look at the photos, I think you’ll be impressed…

Trash 80 Newton’s first computer – the TRS 80. And apparently no one bid for it. It was still there when I returned on Sunday to survey the damage.

Auctioning Lab Equipment Dad and I sorted all of the lab equipment into 3 groups: keep, sell, pitch. These folks are bidding on the “sell” stuff.

Aftermath The day after the auction, the lab looked a lot emptier!

Aftermath – Extreme Edition My room fared better than some… This one lost floor, ceiling, and walls! 🙂