Apparently, I have some pretty clear opinions about punctuation

This week my sweet husband left me a note before he went on his last trip. It was appropriately sweet and funny.

When I commented to him about how something he wrote made me laugh, he said, "I'm glad you liked the note. I really tried to avoid using too many parentheses."

To which I replied, "Why were you trying to avoid parentheses?"

"Well," he said, "You once told me that you weren't a big fan of parentheses. That you would much prefer it if people used hyphens more often."

And before I could even express my surprise and wonder that I ever said that to him, I realized that this is exactly the sort of weird, English teacher thing I would say. I am blessed to have a husband who can appreciate and respect my grammatical idiosyncrasies.

Overheard in the Library

Mrs. Curry speaking to student (we'll call him "E") who was in the midst of arguing with his teacher: E-help yourself out and just stop arguing. It isn't going to get you anywhere except in more trouble.

E stops arguing. Meanwhile another student (we'll call her "A") is listening and nodding with a wise look on her face.

Mrs Curry: You know E, arguing with a teacher is just like digging yourself into a big hole, deeper and deeper . . .

A: When you already know there's no buried treasure down there.