Turning 30 in NYC doesn't count

Ok, I have been a naughty blogger and not posted all month. Guilty as charged. But it HAS been a productive month.
Spring break was unusually early this year (March 7-11) and the husband and I took the long trek to NYC for a few days. Ok, not THAT long, we flew non-stop. Matt may have thought the point of the trip was to hit all the comicbook shops in a 30 mile radius from our base-camp in Brooklyn, but the real point of the trip was for my birthday. That's right, I allegedly turned 30 while up there. I use the word allegedly since it happened in another state, north of the Mason-Dixon line, I don't know if it REALLY counts in Florida. Right?  So, I hear from my friends who have since crossed the line of 40 that, "30, big whoop" nonsense. But think about what you thought of 30 when you were say, 18... I don't think of myself that way yet. Maybe when I have gray hair and bunions I'll change my mind.

1/4 of the way through my Master's program this month too! Keeps me busy and I think, at times, that my laptop will fuse to my legs. Hoping that finishing and having an advanced degree will make me a more marketable teacher outside the state of FL, since our current government has decided that having such a degree does not make your a more effective teacher and you shouldn't get paid more for having one. So they are basically saying that there is no incentive for higher education in their eyes. Oh, yeah, and waving $ in our face will make us do our jobs better, because we aren't REALLY trying our best now. Should be an interesting few years while this all works its way through. I just hope I can pay my mortgage and car payment when they get through with us!

Alright, enough griping. My positive for today is due... I got home and in before the torrential rains began, and got to listen to the pleasant rumble of thunder from the comfort of my own couch. Matt was not so lucky- he's soaked. :P

Drill and Kill

I haven't yet mentioned my job on "this here blog" so I am thinking that tonight might be a good time to do so. I teach elementary school. I'm currently in my 7th year as a full-time teacher, teaching my 3rd different grade level. As much as I bitch about my job, I really do love my job... but boy, there is A LOT to bitch about in education and teaching these days.
In this state, there is testing, testing, testing... and if my students don't pass, they don't move on to the next grade. Well, there is a LITTLE more to it than that, but that is the long and short of it. I'm getting so irritated by the amount of pressure we feel, and the amount of pressure we're putting on these poor kids. 8 and 9 year olds worked into frenzies because of fear of not passing is ridiculous! And I find myself guilty of pressuring them too- I mean, who knows, in another year or 2 my paycheck could depend on how these kids do! I understand the idea of NCLB- making sure we have literate children and all, but the population I am teaching needs more than the 3 Rs to be successful. They're caught in that vicious cycle of popping out babies, moving from rental to rental, crime, and failing to support their child's education. EDUCATE families and parents PEOPLE! Maybe their children will have a chance of being a successful addition to society.

Ok, test stress is starting I guess. But I promised to mention a positive for the day each time I post. Little though it may be...tonight I picked a chicken carcass and didn't get the hee-bee gee-bees... :p

Make It Happy

Over the past few weeks, I have had more than one person tell me I seemed sad. One was referring to my first post, and one was someone who might not even know what a blog is! To the first: I suppose my first post was a bit down... 2010 was rough. To the other, she caught me at a time when a large amount of stress in my life had finally been lifted, and I was a bit overwhelmed by the release of stress (zombie-effect totally).

So I made a decision- whatever griping, bitching, moaning I do write about, I have to make a positive point about my day in every blog. Find SOMETHING little that either made me smile or brightened my day when I post. The positive for today? I realized that my week off between classes for my master's degree falls during my trip to NY in March; so I won't have to do any work while I am out of town! YAY!

In other new... I guess the cleanout of my father's house (SOLD, DONE, HURRAH!) gave my husband some motivation to start on ours. We inherited A LOT of stuff from his parents (we bought their house from them), most of which is GARBAGE. Also, he is a keeper and collector of stuff. But this past weekend, he spent a large amount of time cleaning the garage out (only about 1/4 done) and we took about 8 bags of trash to the road tonight, a desk, a bookcase, and about 300lbs of cardboard. Yay him! Hoping it keeps up so we can get the house renovations back on track and MAYBE have a place for a baby in a year or so.

Until next time- there is no snow in FL at this time, and I wore no coat today!

New House Standards?

I spent much of today (well, yesterday, seeing as it is after midnight) assisting my older sister in the final clean-out of my parents' home. The moving truck had come and gone days ago, Salvation Army arrived and removed a truck-load days ago, and family swarmed to pick, choose, and remove items of interest. Yet a seemingly empty house still had hours (and more remain) of stuff to deal with.
Now, I understand that time ran out on all the "out of towners" and we were left with the final run of stuff to go into storage, and those items someone wanted but didn't have room for at the last minute remained, but where did all of the trash and dirt come from, and how much should someone deal with before the new owners take over?
I am not, by any means, holding anything against my father, or anyone else, in regards to the cleaning time spent today. But the realtor says the house needs to be "clean" for closing. What is considered "clean"? Making sure the trash is removed? Running a vaccuum over the floors and carpets? Or is it fully gutting every single, little item from the entire house, garage, and exterior? What is the standard for the state in which a house is left when you move out? Every house I can remember moving into during my childhood was brand new, therefore EMPTY. My current house belonged to my inlaws and I moved in while my husband was living here, so I inherited a garage full of stored crap. (That will make for another post one of these days) Back to the 'rents' house... how empty does it need to be? Can I leave behind the odds and ends that no one wants- clay pots, door hooks, rakes etc.? According to the husband, yeah, stuff is "always left when you move into a used house." Personally, I think it might be a little rude to leave shit for others to deal with...
Grumble, grumble, no I'm not angry, just dusty and up too late.  :)

To begin with...

It is January, 2011. Last summer I said I would start a blog to document how things in my life are progressing. 5 months later, I am finally getting around to it. So let's sum up what the 5 months would have contained before getting to the current. 2010 was a shitty year. I lost my mom to cancer in March (she was 59), my husband had surgery for kidney cancer in March, my father moved to KS after losing my mom in April... hmmm yeah, 2010 had not much to offer to me early on.
So then I go to Illinois to visit my best friend, who was pregnant with her first child at the time, and decide that, it is time to put the baby plans on the calendar for me, and wouldn't it be interesting to blog about life leading up to it. Well, No, I am not pregnant, and am not currently trying... but it is on the calendar.
So who am I? A teacher, heading on 30 (ewwww), married for 4 1/2 years, stuck in a state I don't particularly like because there is no way on Earth we could sell our house. No kids (yet), 2 cats (crazy), and ambition to make a somewhat interesting entry regularly. Maybe about life, maybe about the oddities of FL, maybe just a rant about some dumbass celeb's idiocy...we shall see.