AnonymousCoworker

2 things:

-The folks who live above us just adopted a stray kitten. At first they kept her inside the apartment, but now they let her wander the shared stairwell also. I was surprised to come home and find a kitten underfoot in the foyer, but I was in no was annoyed.

The kitten followed me up to the apartment, and now her visits have become a regular occurrence. We’ll just leave the door unlatched, and we’ll hear it creak and see a furry head poke through the door. She’ll explore the apartment for a while, and then she’ll leave. She’s a very serious kitten, and though she enjoys pets, she doesn’t stick around to play. She’s a hunter. Apparently she’s killed four mice in the past week. Not bad.

She’s not been named, but when Kmart and I thought she was a boy, we were calling her Gerald. Then we found out she was a girl, and we called her Geraldine. Then we started calling her Gertrude, and then Gertie. I doesn’t really matter what we call her, because she’s a cat, and cats don’t go for that kind of crap.

-No matter how bad your day is going, or how tired you are, homemade pasta sauce makes everything better. Blogging about kittens helps too.

UPDATE: I managed to eat all the sauce in the container without getting it on my white shirt… even after I got the last bits of the sauce out of the container with my finger.

Sorry about the lack of posting yesterday. I know a few people like to stop by this website to make them feel better about themselves and their blogs, and I apologize for not being able to set the bar really, really, bottom-of-the-barrel low yesterday.

I was working with a buddy of mine on this, my actual position being video documentation of the creative process.

It was a ton of fun, but we were in a classroom, so it was exhausting as well. My fiance, ACWF, teaches second grade, so I already knew her job was hard. But every now and then, when I help out in her class, or I have a situation like yesterday’s where I end up in a class, it reminds me how astronomically harder teaching is than many other professions.

Parents doing a poor job of raising their kids, and then blaming teachers when the children don’t succeed. The government instituting a system like No Child Left Behind, requiring school systems to fulfill certain requirements at the risk of losing their jobs, and then not funding No Child Left Behind. A 35 hour workweek without the opportunity for overtime that doesn’t include after school events, PTA meetings, Science Fairs, Book Fairs, grading papers, or field trips. Low wages (salary.com puts her wages at $5,000 below the lowest estimate). Over-crowded classrooms. Out of date teaching materials (ACWF actually had a globe, or a map, can’t remember, that had the freakin’ USSR on it). The list goes on, but it’s just too depressing.

It’s National Teacher Appreciation Week. Want to do something that will blow someone’s mind and make up for all that crap above? Think of the best teacher you’ve ever had. Think of the teacher that put you on a path of success. Think of the teacher who helped you become who you are today. Write them a letter. Send them an email. Let them know you appreciate their efforts. It won’t cost you anything more than a few minutes and the cost of a stamp.

If you can read this blog, you have a teacher to thank.

/soapbox