Airing tomorrow!!!

Remember the CNN thing with my teacher group? It's set to air tomorrow night on Anderson Cooper 360 @ 10. I can't wait to check it out!!!

*Truth-I will be sleeping because it will air past my bedtime. I have set the DVR to record it and I will watch it the next day at my convenience.

Around the house

Here's what we have been up to...picture style!

L-Gato had found a new favorite place to sit and watch his kingdom. Any suggestions on how to stop this would be greatly appreciated.

We've had a lot of rain and gloomy skies. It was nice to see an actual rainbow after the B-man and Q-dog nearly squished me being afraid of the storm!

I made strawberry shortcakes for our anniversary!

I also made a new dish called "Tortilla Soup" in the crock pot. Who says gluten free and vegetarian has to be boring???

Jumpy Jitters

I'm getting married in 44 days...and some pretty important stuff still has to be done!

I'm beginning to get some jumpy jitters, and while I am NOT having cold feet...I am silently freaking out inside. Here is what is making my insides jumble around like-well I don't know because I don't have a simile at the moment. I'm too busy being freaked out.

[Listed in order of how worried/freaked out/jumpy I am...not necessarily in rational or essential order]

1. Pulling this sh*t off

I'm not worried, nervous or scared about being married. I am worried, nervous and scared about pulling off the wedding. There is a lot of crap to get done in a very short period of time, little details such as who is picking up the flowers from the florist still need to be decided. Unfortunately some things won't be able to be taken care of until the day before which is quite nerve-racking.

2. Changing my name

I decided to change my name after we get married. I want our family to have one last name, call me crazy but I want that. Unfortunately it's not looking like it's going to be very easy. I talked with the county clerk and because our marriage won't be recognized in our home state they told me I should call a lawyer to see what I should do. There is always the option of a court order change, but I don't want that to happen. I was fine with the court change until I found out if I do that everything changes...including my birth certificate. I can't change my birth certificate. To do that would be to say that I never existed, that I am somehow turning my back on my parents, erasing who I was and am. I want it to change from this point on, not my entire history. I'm waiting on a lawyer to get back to me on if there is any way around this, because I really really really don't know if I can go through with the court order change. Girlfriend by the way does not care at all. Her thoughts-you want to change it, change it. You don't want to, don't. It's your name, you decide.

3. My dress still needs to be altered

I know, I know, I know this should be like worry #1 but it's not. I have a date scheduled to have it altered, and that has been 3/4 of the battle. What I don't have are shoes...yeah, I know that's important too. I'd get some this weekend but we already have plans, maybe some day next week after work I'll get a pair...or at least start looking since my dress is being altered next Friday!

Support System

I took a huge risk when I came out at work. It's completely legal to fire me over something that is not related to my work performance, yet I chose to take that chance. I live a very "out" life everywhere else, and got sick and tired of hiding something that I am not ashamed of. Where is this coming from you are wondering?

Last night I was hanging out with a co-worker/friend last night and we were talking about how close the wedding is, my pre-wedding jitters (NO. I am not getting cold feet, but I will explain my jitters in a future post), the shower they just threw me at school, etc. She mentioned again how several people were talking sh*t, asking her questions and generally fueling the rumor mill. Here is a snippet of our conversation:

Me: Wait. What are they asking you?

Co-worker: Just the same old stuff, 'What-what-what do you know about her?' I tell them I know a lot. Then they asked, 'Well, what do you know about her wedding?' Again I told them, 'A lot. She's my friend and I actually talk with her, not about her. Go ask her yourself if you have questions.'

Me: (laughing) True. You did Facebook stalk me for a while.

Co-worker: That's only because I love you. I tell them one-if they want to know something go ask you and you will tell them, two-stop spreading rumors that have no backing, and three-it's really none of their business and if they don't have the balls to say something to your face they need to shut up.

Me: You did not!

C0-worker: I did, but that's NOTHING. While this was going on (Co-worker on my grade level) heard and came in pissed about them talking sh*t about you again. She slammed the door shut behind her, and got in their faces. She told them if she heard one more mean or negative thing said about you that she would personally make their life hell. Girl, you don't even know how mad she was, she was ready to bust some people up.

Me: No. Way.

Co-worker: Oh yeah, I stood in the back while she gave them a lecture about she thought she had already made herself clear about keeping their opinions to themselves. How you are one of the nicest people here, always help everyone, and are a better person than any of their sorry asses who talk sh*t about people behind their backs because they have nothing interesting going on in their own lives.

Me: Well thank you for defending me. Seriously.

Co-worker: Girl we got your back. Nobody is talkin' shi*t about our friend. Especially people who don't know anything about anything.

She still wouldn't tell me what was said, but I have a pretty good idea based on who was involved. It's good to know that I'm supported at work by some pretty amazing people.

3 Reasons

3 Reasons my job sucks:

1. My salary (with no raise for three years and counting) after 5 years is less than an administrative assistant starting out (Seriously. Those who say teachers are overpaid CLEARLY do not work in North Carolina).

2. We are constantly told we are not doing enough, but are not allowed to actually TEACH because of all the stupid paperwork, extra crap and structure we have to follow from those who have NEVER been in a classroom or forgot what the day-in-day-out is really like.

3. Yesterday at car duty a student spit at my feet when they got in their truck. The parent laughed. I could do NOTHING but say "That's GROSS and RUDE" or I would be the one in trouble. Yet, somehow it's the teacher's fault when children are disrespectful, rude or just plain ass-hats. I had to put the same child in their car today. I refused to look at the child or the parent and slammed the door shut. I'm waiting on the parent to come and say something to me or the office. They don't want to f*cking try me on this one...I will LOOSE. MY. SH*T.

After these frustrating realizations I went through the job listings after work and realized that I have two degrees but am not qualified to do ANYTHING. Here's fingers crossed that I still have a job next year and that they don't cut my pay (again) with the bullshit line of "we're not in it for the money" from the person who makes 2-3 times my salary. No, I did not go into teaching because I wanted to make a ton of cash, but I should be able to pay my bills and maybe-just maybe-have a little respect.

Coming to this unfortunate realization, I had to remind myself what I do like because clearly I have very little options-

3 Reasons my job is awesome:

1. I get to hang out with funny kids all day, discovering "new" things. (Remember the revelation that we are animals and the very-very old post about fish being thirsty?).

2. Sometimes I'm the only one who cares about them and thinks the child deserves a chance. Believe me-that kid will let you know how much they need you. Every. Single. Day. Added bonus is that you can insert your own beliefs into their developing worldview and teach them how EVERYONE should be treated fairly, even when their family is trying to instill in them something different.

3. Former students who come back to visit. They hug you and you realize they are taller than you yet you still see the little 7 year old in them. They just want to stop in and say "hi" because they miss you. (That made getting spit at much better...clearly I'm still pissed and have some anger issues to work out. I still REALLY want to spit on him-I won't, but I f*cking WANT TO!!!!)

Who is in charge of training cashiers???

When I was in high school I worked in a grocery store. One of my several jobs in the store was bagging groceries for customers. Everyone in the store was trained on how this should be done and there was a HUGE focus on consolidating the customer's order into the most manageable bags. That included filling bags correctly to provide stability and structure, to not making them so heavy they cannot be carried comfortably, to what order things should be stacked. Apparently this is no longer done (or at least not taught at any store in NC that I have been to) and I seriously believe this needs to be reinstated.

I went to the store today after work to buy Lucky Charms for tomorrow's math lesson-because I'm a slacker. We are doing some graphing/fractions/fun stuff for St. Patrick's Day, but that is really not important to the story. What is important is that I was in the express lane with 1 large box of cereal and 1 Burt's Bees Chapstick. Here is how this went down, see if you can follow my frustration....

Me: I don't need a bag.

Cashier: Are you sure?

Me: Yup.

Cashier: (looking perplexed) You're sure you don't need a bag? I can put them in the same bag for you.

Me: (putting Chapstick in purse) Nope, I'm sure. I can carry the cereal.

Cashier: You're sure-sure?

Me: Yes. I'm sure-sure I can carry a box of cereal to my car. I don't need to waste a plastic bag for my forty-five second walk.

Was I a bit snippy at the end? Yes. Was it justified? YES. I mean seriously-you want me to take a bag to carry a box out of your store that I had absolutely no problem carrying up and down the isles of your store all the way up to your register, but somehow when braving the elements outside your building my arms will become too weak to support the cardboard box and I need a bag to help me. This is what is seriously wrong with people-and putting my stuff in a plastic bag and then into my canvas one.

I almost forgot-the man in front of me bought 1 loaf of bread, 1 bottle of wine, 1 large can of beer, 1 pack of hot dog buns and 1 can of something. I think green beans? I don't really remember. What I DO remember is how many bags she thought he needed....go ahead and guess. Did you guess?

Correct answer-3

3 bags for 5 things. Seriously.

bag 1-loaf of bread and hot dog buns

bag 2-can of beer and can of vegetables

bag 3-bottle of wine

Just call me Alexander

Remember this book?

Ever have one of these kind of days? Where everything and anything goes wrong, where you can't seem to catch a break and no matter how hard you try you can't shake the bad day-just-want-to-put-my-pjs-back-on-and-start-over blues? I mean look at the kid on the cover. His day has gone to sh*t and he's not even out of bed yet. Today was that kind of day-and it started last night. I knew last night that today would be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day and there was nothing I could do to change it.

Exploding their world

Background Information: We are studying soil and worms in class.

Today's lesson-Worms: Where did they come from?

Me: Everything living falls into one of two groups, plants or animals.

Student 1: Wait, what about us?

Me: Are you a plant?

Student 1: (indignant) No!

Me: Then you are an animal.

Student 2: Cool! I'm a monkey!

Student 3: Yeah! I'm a turtle!

Me: NO. You don't get to choose an animal. You ARE an animal.

Student 4: Nuh-uh! We're people!

Me: Yeah...humans are mammals, mammals are animals. Therefore you are an animal.

[crickets]

[giggles]

[more crickets]

Me: Seriously. I'm not making this up. People are animals.

Student 1: Whoa...

Sometimes the best part about teaching is exploding the world as they know it. I love watching their face as they discover they know absolutely nothing and can't wait to tell everyone their new found fact.

In other news B-man seems to be doing a little bit better. We moved his crate to where it use to be about 4 months ago. While he's still not happy about being in his crate he's not shredding his bed like he was last week.

Weird Dog Behavior

I know I promised pictures of their "interesting" ideas about being President, and it's coming...as soon as I can find the cord to plug my camera into my computer.

I need some dog-people help here. B-man has been acting REALLY weird the last two weeks when we crate him before leaving for work. He shakes, hides, and has torn his bed to sh*t trying to get out. He's NEVER had a problem being crated in the past, and normally runs to his bed when we say, "Go to your bed for a treat!" Any suggestions on what would cause this dramatic change and how to fix it (leaving him uncrated is NOT a choice) would be very appreciated.