All Hail The PB & J! The Saving Grace! The Nutrient Supporter of @writingproject Directors Like Me!

This is a tribute to Peanut Butter and Jelly.

A celebration of two slices of break, a spread of Peter Pan, and a layer of grape or strawberry jam.

All Hail the PB & J that is my go-to, my Chef-necessity on long days like yesterday and today and for all that are still to come.

You are there for me. You are at my side for writing grants in support of teachers and youth in hopes that there will be funding to celebrate writing excellence and leadership.

You are the for budget reports, Excel sheets, and pie-graphs naming the importance of the work.

You are there for paper proposals, conferences, ZOOM meetings, and drafting journal articles.

You are there for course syllabi, planning, grading and presenting.

You provide comfort at times when local, state and national news create a background noise of inequities, hatred, bullying, anti-education policies and sentiments.

You, the PB & royal J, are the knee-jerk meal, the saver of time, the offerer of sustenance, that allows the work to get done. You, majestical warrior, keep it going.

Here's to the 18 years on Amalfi Drive where a mom and dad taught me the importance of the PB&J for school lunches, sporting events, and simple snacks. You, the 1-minute preparation in a household where Old Mother Hubbards go to the cupboards to see that you have food, and no time to prepare it, become nirvana, utopia...a solution.

All praise for the sandwich that allows me to keep going during 18-hour writing project marathons as I get the work done in hopes for more learning tomorrow.

I am forever in debt, Mr (and Mrs) Peanut Butter and Jelly, as I imagine many of my National Writing Project colleagues are.

I am thankful to you and count my blessings that I don't have an allergy and at home nor am I surrounded by anyone who does - that would be tragic (and is tragic to many households, I know).

Three grants drafts, two proposals written, and a presentation for a national conference begun by 8 a.m. this morning. PB & J, you save me, and that is why you are deserving of a post today.