runningknitter

So today I started my really fantastic summer job *fingers crossed a teaching job will pop up for me this fall* and while I was at work, my boyfriend had a pretty disturbing conversation with our neighbor.
From previous conversations we know that she is a “Christian”, whatever it is that means to her- it seems to mean different things to different people nowadays.  And we know that she and her husband sleep in seperate bedrooms because his penis is apparently freakishly large- I assume so large that it needs it’s own side of the bed. 
So she starts in on politics today, which I don’t discuss with people I don’t know well just because it’s such a personal issue.  She starts talking about how she and her husband are stockpiling food, water, and supplies because in reading the bible they have somehow concluded that Obama is leading us into the end times.  Back up for a minute- does that make ANY sense on really any level?  I taught Sunday school for many years, and I don’t remember Obama ever being referenced in the bible.
She then goes on to say that her husband is terrified that we will no longer be able to purchase firearms, so in this panicked state he went out and bought guns.  I’m sorry, but in this day and age- would it be so horrible if gun laws were a little more stringent?  It really distrubs me that really any crazy person (such as the person who shot the doctor who performed abortions, or the man who attacked innocent people at the Holocaust museum) can just apply for and receive a gun.

I’m just frustrated that these crazy people live near me and are SO convinced that they are correct in their skewed belief system.

I’ve been catching bits and pieces of the news about the shooter at the Holocaust Museum today.  This is truly baffling to me, I really can’t even figure out why he decided to target that particular museum.  The news is saying that he was a white supremisist, was he trying to make a statement about the Holocaust?  I also don’t understand the people who “don’t believe” in the Holocaust- to me it’s like saying that you don’t believe in gravity.  The Holocaust Museum is an absolutely amazing museum that left me feeling emotionally drained the time that I was able to visit it, I can only imagine what the people are feeling who were visiting it today.

It just makes me so sad that really any nutjob in this country can get a gun and just start firing away, it makes me really nervous.  First, we had that guy who shot the doctor who performed abortions, and now this.   If you don’t agree with someone’s viewpoints, is it really neccessary to prove your point with violence?

I’m not someone who gets depressed easily, I’m usually able to bounce back and look on the sunny side of things without a problem.  But I got a letter in the mail today reminding me of the fact that I only have a temporary teaching contract, and that will end on the last day of school.  I lose all seniority on the 30th of this month.  No new jobs are being posted.  I have this terrible fear that I won’t be able to find work teaching and will be stuck bagging groceries somewhere.  I think it’s absolutely insane that my contract was temporary, the teacher I took over for was not on medical leave- she just decided to leave.  I’m one of those people who likes to plan, so maybe this is just a lesson about letting go?

One of our good friends lost a child a few years back, so some of us gathered at a nature preserve to celebrate her life.  It was us, our friend and her toddler daughter, another good friend with her toddler daughter, and then two children their mother and their grandparents.  It was a wonderful day until the family with the children, mother and grandparents showed up- then it became awkward and uncomfortable. 

The mother lives in a homeless shelter with her two daughters.  Which I don’t have a problem with, I’ve had many students that have ended up in that kind of situation just because of bad luck.  But out of all of my students, the parents have always worked really hard to get their families into a better situation successfully.  This is not the case with the mother.  She was kicked out of her parents house for not paying rent or working years ago, and has been at the shelter since with her daughters and suddenly it seems to be taking a toll on them.  The older one was surely and rude for the afternoon, and the younger one didn’t really understand how to interact socially with others.  But they are both young, and kids do go through phases.

But then, on the tram ride back to the parking lot from this nature preserve the mother just lost it on the younger daughter who is maybe two.  Grabbing her and threatening to “pop her butt” LOUDLY the entire tram ride back.  I am not someone who is opposed to spankings in certain situations, but this was just excessive.  The grandmother eventually took the child over her knee and started rubbing her bottom to “warm up the butt”.    While the mother is still screaming that she is going to “pop her butt”.  I was SO in shock by the entire event.  The tram driver at this point is staring at the mother as this is all going on. 

I just don’t know how to even react to this.  Would it be wrong to call CPS to look into this?  These girls have been living in the shelter with their mother for years, and it doesn’t look like she is really planning on moving out.  Her parently skills are just appalling to me, as is evident by the children’s social skills and her own screaming at a two year old.

I know that I don’t have children, but I have studied child development and have enough common sense to know when something is wrong.  I don’t even know if CPS would look into the case, but my heart just breaks for those children.

I somehow managed to hurt my foot when running the other night.  I just landed weird and knew that something wasn’t right, but I kept running because I am apparently an idiot!  It’s finally a little better, but it makes me nervous!  There is a 10k coming up soon that I really want to run in, and a half marathon this winter that I reall want to rock.  But if I keep running like a stupid person and hurting myself, there is no way that I’ll be able to run in them and get a good time.  It’s also been kind of weird not running the past few days, but I really had to give it a rest or else it would have just escalated and gotten worse.  I just feel lazy

The one drawback to being a teacher is the stuff that you need to store in the off-season (summer).  I finally took some time to organize all my teaching “stuff” and all the goodies that the retiring teacher gave me, and it ended up being 4 huge plastic tubs that I am now storing in the garage, in preparation for next year.  It was actually a really good thing because it made me go through ALL of my stuff in the garage and I found a ton of stuff that I was able to donate to the charity that my boyfriend volunteers for- which is always a good cause.

I also found a ton of books that I really don’t need anymore and listed them all on bookmooch.com!  This is probably one of my favorite websites, you get to list books that you no longer want and get points when you send them to someone.  You can then use your points to “mooch” a book off someone else’s list.  I listed about 30 books last night and more than half have already been requested, which gives me points for new/used books!  There are a few classroom management books that I have had my eye on that I think I will be mooching, and perhaps a few classics to read over the summer!

Went to the movies this weekend with my wonderful boyfriend, and it was his turn to pick the movie.  He picked “Haunting in Conneticut” at the discount theaters and I was all for this because it was a scary movie, an episode of one of our favorite guilty pleasures (A Haunting on Discovery, not a good show but we always get sucked in), and it was at the discount theaters- which always makes me happy!

The movie really should have been titled “Let’s Leave the Kids Upstairs Unattended While We Do Half-Assed Research or Try to Rid the House of Ghosts”.  Seriously, it was out of control.  I was half expected CPS to come in and take the children away at a few points.  There were some scenes where the kids just kind of disappeared for a few moments, and no one really addressed it.  My take is, if you really think it’s ok to leave your children unattended in a creepy house that is FILLED with corpses (none of which were decomposed in the slightest way after decades of being stuffed in the walls) then maybe you shouldn’t be a parent.  I’m just sayin’.

I have an interview tomorrow for a summer school job, and I’m more than a little nervous.  If I don’t get this job, I lose all my senority come June 30th and really that does not bode well for jobs next year.  I mean, really I know that there will be a lot of teaching jobs posting at the start of the year- but there will be so many people that I will be competing against.  And really, I can’t do this temporary contract/long term sub gig ever again just because it plain sucks! 

On the plus side, I was given a TON of great teaching resources from a teacher who is retiring this year.  Not all of it is great, but most of it is stuff that I can really use in the future- assuming I get a job!

I’m reading The City of Ember to my class and it is SO nice to see how into it they are!  I remember how they were just beyond checked out when we were reading Tuck Everlasting, but with this book they literally hang on to every word and groan when I close the book!  It’s fantastic!  A few of the kids have started reading the sequel and the prequel.  I’m thinking of showing them the movie on one of the last days of school for a special surprise/treat.  I highly recomend this book, I got sucked in when I read it myself- I literally could not put this book down.  Maybe the kids are so excited about the book because they can sense I like it so much?  I’m just excited for us to get to the next two chapters!

Michael and I have caught baby fever, and we’ve caught it badly!  I never thought that I’d really ever get married and have children but really I guess once you meet that right person things change.  In all honesty, we can’t even really start thinking about it for at least a year just because of where I am in my career.  But I think that year is going to pass by very quickly.  We’ll need to find a new house (ours is too small as it is with us and all the animals), and hopefully I’ll become full time contract.  There are a few things to take into account before we even really start seriously talking about it- but it’s still exciting to me