Gooseberry High

This has been a long, exhausting month. Like, for all of us, even before Parent-Teacher Conferences (which I'm glad we all made it through in one piece), and I want to make sure we're all taking care of ourselves.

Before I go any further, yes, I was the first of us to fall asleep and get locked in the lodge, and yes, I am the one regularly seen fighting trees like they owe me money, and yes, the Ribbonfin gutters do look great, I scrubbed them myself before my parents got here. I'm not exactly the poster child for taking care of myself. This is a group effort.

So, first, the housekeeping reminders:

Dr. Perry is a very good resource for all of us. You can go see him as a one-off or make regular appointments, but also none of you should feel like I'm trying to push you to see him. It's your own choice.

Mr. Hightower is also a really good ear if you have questions, or want to talk to someone you know and trust.

Don't be afraid to talk to your friends! Or ask your friend if they need to go decompress for a little while. They might say no, they may not want to talk, but I'd rather we do this than start a habit of drinking away all our problems.

Drink plenty of water, getting a full night's rest before a test will help you retain the information better, friends are family you choose, and other assorted aphorisms. Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education. Do something with that knowledge now.

Anyways, what I really wanted to say is that I want us to do something together. I mean, I know we have our family dinners and all, but maybe a half-day kind of thing? I want a way to blow off steam as a group and not think about all of our hundreds of responsibilities and our jam-packed schedules. It's still a little cold for something like a picnic, but the lake's still frozen, we could maybe do something like ice skating and hanging out. Practice jousting. I don't care what, as long as it's fun and not schoolwork. Suggestions are welcome.

I promise this isn't directed at you. We're all pretty frayed these days.

But you are okay, right?

We're terrible at keeping our cool these days, aren't we?

How are you feeling?

Fine.

I went to see him. It was whatever.

Who was the last one of us to have a Gwen? The clock says thirty seconds to curfew and my headcount binder is missing a name.

Let me know when you see this so one of us can walk you back to camp. This gives you plenty of time to wrap up any illicit activities or illicit studying you've been working on and none of us will ever know.

Is one of my fish hanging around in your cabin? It's a full 38 seconds after curfew and my headcounts are very regimented.