The morning month after . . .

This is a major ouch for me. I believe that in most districts in this fine state get paid once a month. This makes for budgeting a lot of fun, especially when there are kids, pets and well, just life, involved. The last day of the month is when we receive our paycheck. This means that sometimes in November (as was the case this year), we get paid the day before Thanksgiving. Our December paycheck typically arrives before Christmas break, then we have six to seven weeks of no paycheck at all.

Most teachers I know budget everything to go out at the first day of the month, myself included. My December paycheck, I pay all my bills before I finish up my Christmas shopping, but it leaves little room for any surprises.

Well, this past month there have been plenty of surprises. For instance, Guitar Teen had his tires slashed and received a speeding ticket. Someone Artist Girl in this household hasn't been happy with the fact that for the most part, the heat is OFF during the day. They have chosen to turn the heat on, resulting in a bill of almost $800.00. Yeah, you read that number correctly.

Ya know, I'm responsible when it comes to paying bills first and playing later. This month, there isn't any playing allowed because I'm broke. Thank goodness February is a short month!

Welcome Bossy's Readers!

To those coming to my blog from Bossy's place for the first time, I'll confess that I haven't been blogging very much lately. In the past year, my job has changed pretty significantly. For the next two years, I'm out of the classroom because of my new position as president of my local teachers union. Yup, I'm one of those "union bosses." More days than not, I'm rather stretched for time. As with anything, we have to prioritize and as much as I love blogging, learning this new job saps my energy to where I don't have much left at the end of the day.

The other problem that I've faced is that my beloved laptop died last year. This has meant that I'm forced to share one computer in a household with four other people! Two of which are teens and one who recently turned 21. Next on my list of things to buy would be an Apple MacBook because I'm tired of PC's dying on me!

Just before becoming president of my local union, I was a 6th grade teacher. I do miss my kids a lot this year!! I taught in an urban district that has faced a lot of difficulties over the past five to six years. The recent cuts to education in California have compounded the problems we face as a district tremendously. In California last year, 16,000 teachers lost their jobs. In my district, we lost 100 teachers. Our class sizes have increased, our campuses are not as safe, and our teachers continue to feel the pressure to perform absolutely miracles in some of the worst circumstances anyone could imagine. So, even though I miss my students, I fight for the teachers because I believe that we have become an easy scapegoat in all that's wrong with public education.

I'll step off the soapbox and welcome you to my humble blog. So anyway, welcome! Feel free to browse.