As probably known by many, I served as an elementary school principal in Columbus Ohio City Schools for many, many years. While I started my career in education in high school and still hear from my first high school theatre class (four years younger than my 22 was a lot then and nothing now!), I did not want to do middle or high school sports as dog shows were even then my beginning addiction.  So after supervising the secondary reading program, I elected to go into the elementary principalship which I loved. When I started to feel burn out after 33 years and began having a few health problems, I retired and put all my efforts into the Cavalier mania traveling the world telling Al that when he needed me home, I would curtail my traveling and be home. I have always missed the principalship and really felt it was a calling; after cutting back on breeding and showing at least for now, I finally gave in to my long felt urge to return to school and have been substituting as an elementary and middle school principal in my old district. From the first moment that I walked into my first assignment, I felt that I was home.  I am working nearly every day and seem to be spending a lot of time as a middle school assistant principal as well, of course, as an elementary principal.  The problem is that middle schools start really early and this old night owl has been staying up until the wee hours and getting up at nine a.m. for quite a few years now. Rising at five a.m. is horrible!  I hate it.  Leaving the house by 6:30 a.m. every morning exposes me to a world I have seldom seen.  While others may delight in the quiet of early morning, my dogs have been conditioned to sleep in.  My poor Wendy and Snoop do not even open an eye when I leave, just snore away.  We have not done mornings in forever.  Poor Al who loves mornings does not love the very new early hours that I am keeping. 

I still cannot go to bed early and have just finished doing the dogs  before I started on the blog.  In fact, I just finished my The Royal Spaniel magazine article about legislation, what a surprise!  I am late getting to bed and will seriously pay the price in the morning. Good night for my morning wake up is less than five hours away and I am an old woman now who should know better!