i saw the sign

there's a reason why i haven't been posting as often as i usually do. every spring i work online as an assessor for a national educational testing company, scoring open-ended questions on an end-of-year exam. this year my students are from the great state of delaware, attempting to prove their mastery of the algebra I curriculum -- you know, things like variable expressions, systems of equations, operations with radicals, etc. fun stuff. anyway, i commit to putting in at least 20 hours a week, and every year i'm reminded of how difficult it is for me to find 20 hours a week to sit in front of my laptop, reading response after response after response (so far, i've graded 1,798). i can't do it while the kids are awake, so i find snatches of time in the morning and evening and on the rare occasion that they're both at preschool and i'm sitting at home eating my bon-bons. [just a little stay-at-home-mom humor.] so, unfortunately, the blog has to fall by the wayside, along with cleaned bathrooms and folded laundry. rest assured, however, that at least i have my priorities in order. as i sit here to type this brief entry, there are three baskets full of clothes screaming for my attention. so i'll keep it short and sweet. i took the kids to ben & jerry's today for their annual free cone giveaway. on our way from there to the playground to meet up with friends, i got distracted by a cell phone conversation with chris. when i get distracted while driving -- whether it's by my phone or a song on the radio or a question one of the kids has asked from the back seat -- i'm proud to say that my quality of driving does not diminish in the slightest. in the 17+ years i've been a licensed driver, i have yet to be involved in even so much as a fender bender. but what does diminish is any sense of direction that i'd like to think i might have. so, somewhere along the way in our five-minute ride from the mall to the park, i took a wrong turn. BUT ... the detour turned out to be quite serendipitous. a mere block away from my normal route, i came across the intersection shown to the left. i just happened to have my camera (had to capture those munchkins in all their ice cream glory) so i jumped out to snap a picture. what are the odds that our two alma maters would find kinship in a set of street signs in raleigh? maybe someday when liam's really into his teenage hijinks on a bored friday night, he can sneak out with his friends and steal the signs for me. [just a little more mom humor.] i hope for a more enlightening post next time. would any of my faithful readers enjoy a comprehensive dialogue on how to properly assess the mathematical proficiency of a ninth grade student? (lesson #1: when you read a student's solution that begins with, "once again, me and equations DO NOT MIX GOOD", you just might be in for a doozy.)