Do you think time would pass us by?

I love my third period class. Well, now they are technically my former third period class. Their class name was "The Incredibles", and they were. Sometimes they were Incredibly frustrating- and yeah, I capitalized that "I" on purpose. Other times they were Incredibly funny.

On some days I envisioned writing the script for Dangerous Minds 2: Rural North Carolina Edition on my drive home because of third period. Other days I wished there was a big cliff that I could drive my car off of, again primarily thanks to third period.

We made memories- when the boy I dubbed Reverend Wright preached a very southern and Black rendition of how Bill Clinton was the greatest president ever, the "Black people's" president. Big John passing gas every day at the back of the class. Shanika's friends joking that she walked with Jesus- literally, because she's so old (she's 19 but still has Sophomore standing because she really struggles with reading comprehension), and her laughing just as much as they did. Carter saying, "Shut yo' mouf" in his funny lisp 50 times in 90 minutes every day. Josh tripping and falling over everything just to get a laugh. Big John and Josh standing up front, on either side of me, self-proclaimed bodyguards of Ms T*K.

Good times.

My favorite memory, however, was made today: they finished their E*OC (once again, the state distributed end-of-cou*rse exam) with a half hour left so we just ate cake (Shanika makes a mad red velvet cake, believe you me) and took pictures. I played a little Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell cuz, baby, there ain't no mountain high enough. Then the requested song was- and remember that this class had three white kids and 21 African-Americans- A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton.

That's right- the whitest white girl song ever. I almost died laughing. My favorite part was everyone singing and dancing, raising their hands in the air, to it as the bell rang and they went out the door- everyone in the halls thought we be crazy.

Update: It's fourth period, the EO*C's are done for me (perhaps forever, since my class next semester doesn't have one and I don't plan to live in NC for more than a few years), and wouldn't ya know it- my kids (still majority black) are rocking out to more Vanessa Carlton and even a litte John Mayer. With a little Kanye West, and a splash of Ray Charles, thrown in there too.

How can I not love this life?