It never ends... decisions, frustrations, and random craziness!

It's been a long time since I blogged.  I am super duper busy, but I felt the need to write.  So here goes...

This time of year is one of the busiest times for me.  The school year is ending, my online grad class is in full swing, and I want to spend time with my friends and of course Mike! 

Yes, I am sad that I'm laid off again.  I realize more this time around that whatever happens will happen.  I feel bad for my students though, who once again will be robbed of any type of stability they had in their lives.  It's the last week for my seniors and I'm going to miss them so much!  They are the reason I go to work.  They make me laugh every day and I just love teaching them.  Yes, they are needy and drive me nuts, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  Prom is Friday and I think I am chaperoning.  I've never been at school that has a prom, so it will be interesting.  I have to make sure I send them off properly.  I write every student a personal note before they leave me for the year.  I remember getting a note from my 2nd grade teacher when I was a senior in high school.  She tracked me down and even put a picture from our 2nd grade Halloween party in the card.  I'll never forget that.  So that's why I write the notes for my students.  You never know if it will make a difference.  Yes, it takes me a long time to get them all done, but I love the look on their faces.  So many of them have parents who do not care, and I want them to have the written proof that they are good kids no matter what has happened. 
My grad class is in full swing and I've had so much work to do and 15 hours  of classroom observation to do.  I was very lucky to have some help from some awesome teacher friends that allowed me to observe their classrooms.  I appreciate their help so much!! The class is demanding, and it's my second to last one before I finally have a master's degree.  I'm just running out of steam for writing papers and participating in online discussions!
I'm sad that I haven't done too much musically.  I have Tracy and Ashley's wedding to prepare for, and I'm excited to play for it! I'm happy to help out!  I haven't had time to get the Powerhead Kids website going either, but in a few weeks I hope to get to that!
This past weekend Josh and Becky came up from Columbus.  It was a blast to see them and hang out.  I'm just sad that I didn't get to spend more time with them.  :(  Ashley joined us too and it's so nice to have cool friends.  Even though we don't get to see each other all the time, it's good to know that we can have a blast together no matter how long it's been!
Mike has been picking up the slack around the house while I get all this work done.  He's been cooking amazing meals (paleo) and keeping up with the grass and other yardwork that has to be done.  He's the best boyfriend I could have.  It came to my attention this weekend that some people have a hard time with the fact that we are not married.  Well, too bad! I'm sorry, but Mike and I know each other much better than some of the married couples we know.  It's so frustrating.  It's our lives and yes, we will get married one day, but on our terms.  We're not going to listen to anyone putting pressure on us.I will not have ANYONE bossing me around when it comes to our future wedding. 

I also have to put this out there, my mother is the best seamstress and dressmaker ever!  (And no, she's not available to do your tailoring needs!) If I want something made, I go to my mom.  She made my awesome skull kitchen curtains and tons of amazing dresses when I was younger! Her mom also sewed, that's my Grandma Irene (that's where I get my middle name from), so when it comes to sewing my mom is the authority.  No, she will not make my wedding dress because I rarely buy formal dresses and I'd like my wedding dress to be the first.  END RANT! 

Needless to say, it's been a frustrating few weeks.  I'm looking forward to the school year ending because I just need some breathing room. 
This week is going to be very exciting because I will finally be seeing the band Anathema! I can't f*cking wait!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's it for now.  I think will blog again soon!

April Update

I'm so ready for spring break!  Let me just start with that information.  Life has been busy, there's never a dull moment.  This week has been a week of fighting for what is right and not backing down. Between telling a principal the way it is and e-mailing a CEO who shouldn't be making education decisions, it's been a crazy week.   So let me move on to more happier things. 

We finally purchased curtains for our living room.  This is a big deal, because it's been very difficult to find curtains that we liked, and that were affordable! Luckily, we finally did! 

Here are the living room curtains!

These are the new bathroom curtains!

Mike's mom made us a new set of bathroom curtains to match the newly painted bathroom.  She also made a new shower curtain.  Artemis enjoys the new shower curtain very much! He spends every morning playing in between the liner and the actual curtain. It's pretty funny!

My second to last graduate class started this week.  This is probably the most awful class I have taken in the entire program. Our professor just got switched again and things are kind of ridiculous with trying to figure out how manage this class.  There is a lot of work, so I probably won't be blogging very much for a while. 

Well, that's it for now! 

SB5 Rally!

So the Rally Against SB5 was awesome! There were around 2,000 people.  Yes, it was rainy and chilly, but it was so worth it.  There were a lot of interesting signs. I think my favorite one was "I think Kasich has a Koch habit."  So true!!! Many cars were honking and in favor of what we were doing.  Mike saw some thumbs down.  Thank God I didn't because they would have gotten the middle finger from me!! LOL!  I didn't get to take pictures at the rally because it was so rainy.  I did take some pictures of our signs that we made. 

Mike's Sign

My Sign!

Artemis was our helper!  He's the cutest protester ever!

Getting ready to leave!

Regardless if you are non-union or union - SB5 does effect everyone.  Everyone needs to be active in defeating this bill.  So write your state senators and house representatives.  Get involved!  This bill will hurt all of us.  We need to work together! If this goes to the voters in November we will need your help to make sure this does not pass!

MARCH SNOW DAY!

So like I predicted I had a snow day today.  I'm happy that I prepared my kids for the snow day so hopefully they will look over their OGT study guide that I made for them Thursday.  It was relief to know that i did not have to go out in the snow today. 

I shoveled the driveway and even helped a visiting nurse for one of my neighbors dig out her car that was stuck in the street.  Luckily, my cop neighbor came out and drove her car out of the mess. 
Then my cop neighbor brought up SB5 and how pissed off he is.  We talked about how we don't live extravagant lives, yet we are under attack.  If Kasich is so concerned about balancing the budget, why doesn't he take a pay cut?  Why doesn't his entire staff take a pay cut?  Oh well, enough about that. 

I'm a bit sore from shoveling.  Mike and I were hoping to go to The Adicts Show tonight, but we decided not to go.  Mike is working overtime tomorrow and I have a paper to start/finish, LOL!

Life has been really busy.  One of my classes is overwith.  I still need to finish my final project for my master's.  Then I have two more classes to take to finish my master's degree.  Whoo hoo!  Not that it means anything anymore to have a decent education. 

4 Day Weekend

It was a glorious four day weekend!  I woke up on Friday feeling so good with the weather in the 50's.  I made sure to get a nice long walk in before old man winter appeared again!

Friday was a "me" day.  I spent time doing stuff I like doing!  It was fantastic!
Saturday should have been called nap day!  I think I was just run down from the week and the busy time of the year it's been with the OGT coming in only a few weeks. 
Mike's mom came over and we all went to JoAnn Fabrics to get some material for the new bathroom curtains.  I love what we picked out! I did get to go out to dinner with some great high school friends that evening!  We had a lot of laughs and then we headed out to the Clubhouse in Parma and I got to see Nicole who was bartending.  I even got to catch up with her boyfriend Will.  I had a nice time with the ladies and I can't wait for our next outing!! Hopefully I'll see Nicole soon!!
Sunday was another relaxing kind of day.  We spent it mostly getting work done around the house and running errands like buying cat food because Artemis was throwing a fit that he only had crumbs left! I also purchased something special for a little boy who is going to be a big brother really soon! I stayed up late on Sunday and finally watched "Eat Pray Love".  Wow, it was a sucky movie.  I totally recommend reading the book.  The movie just moves so fast - it's not a horrible movie, but you must read the book to get the full effect! I even got some crafts done too - I'm hoping to open an Etsy soon!
Monday was spent doing work for my graduate classes and the classes I teach. I can't wait until the OGT is over.  I've been really hard on the kids this year. No messing around!!!  Not that it will do much good, considering I'll probably get laid off again.  I'm so sick of working so hard and I get nothing for it.  I really hate the laziness around me.  Plus, don't even get me started on SB5!! Fuck REPUBLICANS! 

Well, enough of my ranting!  I hope everyone is having a successful February!  Hopefully, I'll write again before it's March, but don't be surprised if I don't! 

February Update

So I haven't blogged in a while so here's an update!

Last weekend Mike and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary!  Please don't bug us to get married! We're happy with the way things are and when we decide to get married, believe me you will all know!  Weddings cost a lot of money and we're very particular with how we want things!  Mike took me out on a wonderful date!  We haven't done dinner and movie in a long time!  He even took me to see a movie that I so wanted to see:  The King's Speech.  I'm obsessed with the British Royals.  The movie was brilliant and who doesn't love Colin Firth?!! It was an awesome night! 

Work has me really busy.  It's standardized testing time.  I find it frustrating because no matter what I do - won't save me from being laid off.  Seniority needs to go when it comes to education.  There's gotta be a better way!  My students have been crazy, fun, and annoying all at the same time.  I'm reaching burnout already this year and isn't that close to June yet!  AHHH!!

My master's program is becoming crazy and demanding.  I'm trying to work ahead to get everything done!  It's just difficult to do when I'm lesson planning and then have to do more work for my classes!  

The Powerhead Kids are awesome!  We have plans for a website soon!  So stay tuned! 
I'm looking forward to doing some music stuff in the near future, but there's so much going on right now I guess it will have to wait! 

That's it for now!  I hope to update soon!

Darnell

As a teacher you don't expect your students to die.  Even in an urban environment where so many kids are needlessly killed, you still don't expect it.  Well, it happened to me this week.
But first, let me tell you about Darnell or "Deuce" his nickname.
Darnell has the same birthday as me, September 7th.  I know this because my students figured out when my birthday was a few days ahead of time and kept asking me what I was doing for my birthday.  That's when Darnell told me that his birthday was the same day.  When it came to our birthday many students were wishing me a happy birthday and I said, "Don't forget about Darnell!  It's his birthday too!"  Darnell got embarassed and really didn't like the attention.  So I let him be. Come to think of it, he never wanted a lot of attention.  He liked to blend in, but yet he didn't.  He was very popular, despite his wanting to blend in.  Darnell and I used to argue about typical teacher-student things. For example: him not being in dresscode, me telling him to get quiet, or me bugging him to finish an assignment, and he would get an attitude with me in front of his classmates, and I would laugh.  Darnell always listened to me though.  He just had to put on his show so everyone could see that he was rebelling.  I'd always tell him "You're gonna drive me crazy!" and he would smile.  I remember when he completed his Beowolf Children's Book.  It was incredible.  He took his time and was meticulous with that book.  The illustrations were so impressive and he worked so hard.  I hung it up on the wall and a month before his death he asked if he could take it with him.  His mom was in the hospital and he wanted to show it to her.  I said of course. 
Darnell also loved to hoop.  Most of his speeches were about basketball.  He was a great basketball player.  He was on John Adam's team and many of the younger players looked up to him.
Darnell was 17 when he died - a senior - so ready to graduate in June.  About two weeks ago he was diagnosed with leukemia after being shuffled from one doctor to another.  No one could figure out what was wrong with him.  Then he got the leukemia diagnosis.  I was told to gather work for him and that he would be in the hospital for a month to go through chemo.  Within two days his lungs were failing.  His lungs stabilized Friday (1/14).  My students and I got him a Get Well card and one of my students delivered it to him over the weekend.  On Tuesday (1/18) at 7am Darnell passed away.  Ta'Shira one of his best friends and one of my students came running into my room Tuesday around 9am.  I was already having a rough morning with my 9th grade repeaters.  Ta'Shira had her shirt up around her face and I knew what she was there to tell me.  I took her out into the hallway and she told me that Darnell lost a lot of blood over the weekend and he passed away that morning.  For the rest of the day I saw members of the senior class just walking around like zombies.  Even my pain in the ass 9th grade repeaters stopped their attitudes and got quiet for the rest of the day.  I had Darnell for two of my classes.  Ta'Shira and a few other members of the class won't let anyone sit at Darnell's computer.  They sit there and guard it.  As we were doing our mock job interviews in speech class this week, Ta'Shira did an interview as "Deuce".  It really felt like he was there and she really nailed it.  He would be so proud.  I still have so many of his papers.  I knew he was sick the last time I saw him, but I didn't know what was really going on.  Darnell never wanted that many people in his business.  He asked for an extension on some work and I said sure. 
Darnell, you always made me laugh.  The smirk you would get when we were arguing always made me laugh.  R.I.P.  Darnell.  Gone, but never forgotten.