Rewind

There are many events in life that you don't get a do-over for, like losing your virginity or driving yourself somewhere all by yourself (or even better, with a car load of friends) once you've passed your driving test. And I guess that's ok, or at least it will just have to be ok, until we build time machines. Today though, Natalie got a do-over on the first day of school pictures. Our teachers voted yesterday afternoon to enter into non-binding arbitration early, so school opened today. It was good first day of school weather, nice and cool, which enabled Natalie to wear this on her first real day of first grade:

And then while at school during lunch, she lost yet another tooth. The Tooth Fairy is going broke people! I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, since I'm too much of a cynic, but I'm going to try to be optimistic this time around and believe that our teachers will not return to the picket line. I realize that's the only leverage they've got and all, and I realize that the public is indeed not getting the full story from both sides in this fiasco. I am grateful that both sides realized what a public relations nightmare this was all becoming and decided to make some concessions in order to get the contract talks started up again. Let's keep our fingers crossed, right?