Pardon me while I vent

Firstly, my apologies for not posting for so long! At first I could excuse myself by saying that there was simply nothing going on, but after so much time has past, I can only say that I'm just pathetic!

First order of business: My 25th birthday is Monday! Since we're trying to save up for a house (and new car for me), I've forbidden Aaron from buying my jewelry like he wanted. We must look like the strangest couple, a woman refusing to have money spent on her in the form of gold and sparklies. It's only fair, anyway. Aaron desparately wants a gym membership so that he can play basketball, but any of the places around here cost $57-60 each month for a whopping $760 or so after a year. I felt like such an evil witch when I could sanction spending that kind of money. How can we save money if we keep spending it on every want and desire? Truthfully, it makes me pretty grouchy that I have to be the bad guy financially. Since when is it such a horrendous concept that young couples save up their money for future investments?! Success later on in life doesn't just miraculously appear, it's earned. ...

Sorry about that rant... after starting this blog, I took a break and called the TN Dept. of Edu regarding my TN teaching licensure application. The jerks returned the entire thing to me this past Friday, saying that I hadn't included a copy of my MO license. Now I KNOW that this is bull shi'ite, but of course, they wouldn't admit to anything of the sort. There's no way I can prove them wrong. Oddly enough, I know that I also sent them copies of my PRAXIS scores, but they seem to have gotten lost as well, although the Dept. didn't indicate that I needed to resend them. Anyway, I'm not going to go into any more detail other than to say that they are completely unorganized (it took them over 3 months to process my application) and they are inconsistent. This, after Aaron and I tried to get our drivers license and TN tags a few weekends ago. Summary: the state government agencies and departments of TN are the most deplorable, lazy, unorganized, incompetent, and rude people I have ever met. Bar NONE. So you can see why having to deal with the TN Dept. of Edu put me in a really grumpy mood now. They are self-righteous imbeciles.

Ok, so those are the stressors in my life. Let's think happy thoughts now, shall we?

I'm finally able to sub, thanks to Kelly Services, in some nearby private schools. Although I've only been subbing a few times, I've already gained a fantastic repoire with one school. The teachers in the 6th grade department where I've subbed quite bit go out of their way to include me in their conversations, the secretary requested that I submit my resume and then went so far as to stop the principal and say pointblank "You need to hire this woman" right in front of me. One of Aaron's bosses' child goes to this school and had me email him my resume so he could forward it to the principal with his recommendations. So, if the school somehow has an opening for English, I would have a great shot. Of course, that's IF. They're always hiring teachers... just not necessarily MS or HS English teachers. People seem to forget that fact when they say, "Why, you'll get a job easily! They're always hiring; there's such a demand!" I was blessed to sub 3 days for the same class there at this school and the students were absolutely delightful. They actually complimented me directly to my face! Several would walk in and say things like "You're the best sub; we're glad we got you; you're a great teacher; I wish you could teach here; you should try to get hired here; thanks for subbing us today; and thanks". How rewarding! To hell with being paid to teach there - I would pay THEM to teach those kids!

Although I specifically requested subbing at only MS or HS classes, I got sent to a computer science class where the oldest group was 4th graders, although after having the Kindergarteners earlier that morning, 4th graders looked like mature adults in comparison. Now, this was at a strict private school, so the little ankle-biters were, if I must be honest, very wonderful kids. However, there is a very good reason I don't teach elementary. Little kids that don't reach your waste are EVIL when in groups larger than 3. That day taught me a few things: I would rather prostitute my soul than teach Kindergarteners; I am very resilient, but 7 hours of dwarves will reek havoc on my brain and back; teaching older kids is definitely my true calling; and my husband is a fantastic listener. All hail the teachers of rugrats; they deserve sainthood or an insane asylum... probably both.

All in all, Aaron and I are doing great. Hope everyone out there is too! Later!