Yesterday we learned that our principal and vice principal are both leaving after this school year. There was an impromptu staff meeting in the library after school, which we on The Rock usually take to mean bad news, since we've had more than our share of student deaths and other tragedies.

Yes, they cried. Most of us, too. But the best part, if there is one, is how happy for them everyone was. We all have in us a kernel of desire to flee this place, admitted or not.

Afterward, I sat in the preschool room with the preschool teachers and we tried to assimilate the coming unknown. Trust me, we're all working hard to move forward with curriculum adoptions, relationships between the various groups who compete for student time, understanding our school board, holding the line so that everyone is treated fairly...

This is a bit scary.

In my shock after the announcement, I said something about my staff that I meant to sound cheeky, but that came out sounding mean. I owe them all an apology today. Shock is a funny thing.

I went home and ate half a ribeye steak, a potato, a gin and tonic, more tonic, a ginger ale, passionfruit sorbet with blueberries, more blueberries . . . I just kept looking for food. Oh yeah, also ate some crab meat (real) and some marinated mushrooms. That's what finally helped me stop - those mushrooms were slimy.

Now to regroup, decide what this all means for my work habits in the next month and a half, and move forward. Seems we do this far too often in this place.