For years, I've been complaining about the weather here. When I moved here 15 years ago, I never meant to stay. But I met this guy... who grew up here... and wanted to stay... and I got a job and made lots of friends. But the last few years the weather has really gotten to me. I'm miserable for at least 3 months of the year and kinda crabby about it for another 3.

Lately, I've been paying more attention to the politics here. And they stink. But my husband has been adamant about...

Is what my lovely state is cutting from it's 2011 education budget.

fuck.

I make reminder phone calls for a rolfer (kind of like a chiropractor / massage therapist) every day. Many of his clients are weekly. Some are terse on the phone, some are polite and some are friendly and talkative. I've been doing this for 2 1/2 years and I've been calling some of the same people every week for that long.

Today I noticed on his schedule that he was taking Friday afternoon off for a wake for one of his clients. Now, I've never met this woman, never seen her, never...

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MORE 100's

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1:59 - WOOT!

EVEN MORE 100's
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1:59
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GO ME!

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So often I feel like I use my blog to bitch and moan about things so today's entry is because today was a good day.

- I wore a comfy outfit to work
- I got everything ready on time
- My students were engaged all morning (we won't discuss my afternoon classes)
- I talked to a good friend at lunch
-I'm making some plans to see some Blue Crackers in a little over a month
- I'm taking my son out to dinner tonight to celebrate his "student of the...

I've been a high school teacher of 13 years - 10 at the same school. I used to LOVE my job - I mean LOVE it. Yes there were frustrations but the kids, the daily challenges, I loved them.

This fall, when school started, I wasn't thrilled to go back - it was hard. And today, after 2 weeks off, it was so hard to go back. Once I'm there, I'm fine. I'm not unhappy doing my job most of the time, almost all of the time. But I don't think I love it anymore. And that makes me sad....

Some pretty heavy shit has gone down at work lately - stressful, ugly, scared-to-lose-my-job shit. To the point where I kind of dread coming to a job I used to love.

So I've been feeling like I could really use a "win", something good to come from this area of my life. And today I got it. It was a small win, but for 30 minutes, I liked my job again.

So I've started looking for summer work in the UK/Ireland. I'm a drama teacher by trade and would love to do that, rather than teach English (which I'm qualified / certified to do but don't love). It's a daunting search but exciting too. For example, I just found a camp in Ireland for kids with cancer and other serious illnesses. How COOL would that be???

If anyone has any leads or recommendations or has done anything like this before, any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm...

I've moved around A LOT. Pretty much every three years since I was born, I was forced to pack up and move (until about 14 years ago). I always sort of cut ties with anyone I left behind, either by choice, or fate, or laziness. So I don't really have any childhood friends.

So when people ask me how I got into U2, I recall the day in 8th grade when this guy I was friends with, asked me if I liked U2. I said yes and he gave me UF on tape. I took it home and listened to that thing...

As you probably know, I'm a teacher, which is a pretty thankless job. In fact, I was remarking the other day to another teacher that, when we take kids on a field trip or bring in a guest speaker, rarely do they thank us.

But today when the bell rang at the end of my class I overheard something that made me beam with pride. And whether or not it was meant for my ears or not, it was a 'thank you' in my book. A student of mine said "Dangit. I'm always sad when the bell rings...

When I was in 7th grade my friend gave me a tape of UF. I became a fan. The next year I dated a boy who really liked U2. I think we may have even gone to see Rattle and Hum together. I'm not sure. What I am sure of is this:

We broke up (of course). We were at a dance. WOWY came on. His best friend said I should dance with him, even though we'd broken up. We danced. I still remember that dance. The next song was fast and we didn't move, we just stood there hugging, the way...

U2 fans Vs. Green Day fans:

Green Day fans...
-don't have the same concert etiquette, or any for that matter
- say fuck a lot more than U2 fans
-are shorter (thank god)
-are not as pretty
-do NOT camp out 18-24 hours in advance of the show (lined up @ 5:45 and got in the 2nd "row")

I will say this to all the setlist bitchers: I was what we'd call a casual Green Day fan. Saw them before they were big. Bought Dookie. LOVED...

I love Discovery Channel. I'm fascinated by nature videos. And yet I cannot watch SharkWeek. Why you ask?

As some of you may know, I'm a triathlete. Which means I have to swim. In a pool. When I was 7, my brothers watched Jaws. They told me not to watch. But I did. And I am ruined.

I have a completely irrational fear of sharks in any body of water, including the pool. Yes, the pool. If I'm not totally engrossed in counting laps and dividing miles by yards...

So I just got back from my first non-flat bike ride since I was about 16 years old. Here are some things I now know.

-Bike riding is a helluva lot harder than it looks.

- EVERYTHING is scarier and more difficult on a bike. For example:
*bugs? don't have to worry about them when you're running.
*hills that I could easily run up were a bitch on the bike
*cars? petrify me
*rocks? scary as hell

-I should really get to know my bike and...

I ran 3 miles yesterday... well I walked for about 6 minutes total, but I got through the three miles. (to think that last year I did a 10K no problem )

I swam today. I was slow as hell, I couldn't turn right and I knocked my shin getting out of the pool, but I swam.

If I can get my booty out of bed before it gets to be 90+degrees tomorrow morning to ride my bike, I'll officially be back in training.

Two races, one the weekend before the...