Thirteen papers later my brain is mush! Grading online is a bit different than having the paper in front of you on paper, but the mark changes option in Word allows me to make comments and corrections on the papers so I actually do better with it. I am just stuck in front of a computer while I grade. Was talking to Buffy on the phone a bit ago and she suggested I get my butt on the deck with the laptop while I write or grade so I can get some color in this white face of mine. I am probably the palest local on the island! But, I have less "laugh lines" on my face than most of the women down here my age! Not sure what is worse - lines or being fish belly white.

Steve and I are having withdrawal. Shipwreck is closed down for renovation and the whole staff is off on vacation together. The owner takes his staff on a cruise, or to Mexico, etc. every year. I think that is pretty cool, but I really want my 1/2 of a Shipwreck burger and fries fix on Saturdays! I had a club sandwich at Tickles last Sat. and it just wasn't the same.

Finished listening to Michael Gruber's Witch Boy yesterday. I was not thrilled with the narrator's voice, which had a negative impact on how much I could enjoy this book. It got a bit long in parts and the main character - a ugly foundling raised by a witch and called Lump - was not terribly likeable until the very end of the book where he redeemed himself. Woven into the tale are recognizable folktale characters, such as Hansel and Gretel, who have been lovingly raised by the witch in the forest. A bit different than the tale we all know. Lump's name is actually Rumplestiltskin so you can just imagine how that tale is interwoven into the story of Lump's mad obsession with the miller's daughter. Offer this one to the younger teens who are beyond Harry Potter - even if they don't get the references to the Grimm's tales they will enjoy the coming of age tale of an ugly foundling child who grows up to be a not so ugly man.

Before I read The Good Lion by Beryle Markham and adapted and illustrated by Don Brown I hadn't heard of Beryle Markham, who moved to East Africa when she was three. This picture book is one incident in her young life when a "tame" lion on a friend's property decided she was prey. She was not seriously hurt, but the lion was caged for the rest of his life. Markham was saddened by the lion being punished for his natural behavior. A picture book to share with older children or teens - a good discussion starter.

All for now. I am ready to chill and watch the news.