Country Rican

It has been almost two weeks since I have been home. I wish I could say I hate it, but I don't. I don't love it either though. It is great not having to get up and go somewhere I hate every morning, that's for sure. But I feel a little bit useless. I have been working for a long time and not earn ing any money makes me uneasy. Michael has been great about it, but you know he wants me to contribute financially (as much as he loves $). He is happy with Suzie H. Maker making his lunch and dinner and taking care of him, who wouldn't? The problem is there is not many exciting things to discuss here since I am home mostly. Unless anyone wants to discuss health care reform, or the odds of Israel striking Iran ( I watch a lot of news programs). This week I went to Atlanta to see Tammy and to see Gus, and Miguel and Liz. I also had my monthly bookclub, which gave me a chance to see the lovely ladies. Other than that Mike and I have been working on the movie collection...

Yesterday was my last day at the high school. In a surprising turn of events, three days after I turned in my resignation the principal informed me that the board was not going to replace me. Not only were they not replacing me this semester, they weren't even going to try to replace me for the next semester either. He says finding a foreign language teacher takes time, so they will find a replacement for next August. I was stunned, because I never thought it was possible. Now remember, I had written before that there was a candidate interested in the county but they never even called her. Normally if a teacher leaves they find a replacement. In drastic cases they hire a sub for the rest of the semester. Apparently the option of dissolving the classes has been there but usually reserved for elective courses, not for academic courses that are required in order for the kids to get to college. Basically, they saw an opportunity to save the money on salary, and screw the kids. ...

Did I mention we live in the country? Michael and I are comfortably on the couch, watching the bulldogs kick some game cock ass when we hear Carlito growling. We know it's Carlito because Vito hardly ever makes a sound. Unless he's hungry in which case he meows loudly. So Michael gets up to check on him, thinking he must have gotten into the trash again. Michael comes back saying "You don't want to know." LOL He knows me well so I am worried. Carlito has a live mouse in his mouth. He is growling because he is worried Vito is gonna take him away. See photo evidence above. After a few minutes we see two cats, and no mouse. Now I'm worried that the mouse is in my bed or something. Eventually they found him, and yes, they tortured him to death. Poor mouse had a worse night than Spurrier... Oh yeah. Eventually Michael threw the carcass outside (because that's what you do in the country) Go Dawgs!

I did it. I turned in my resignation letter. I gave them until the end of the month to find someone else to torture. I left the letter in the Principal's office before 8 am. I wished I could have done it face to face, but tracking down the principal is very hard, especially the week of homecoming. Anyway, at 8:45 I had to write up a student. Which means I basically kicked her out of my classroom and sent her to the scariest woman in the school: the assistant principal for discipline. Most kids shiver when they hear her name. This girl basically said "let's go!". She mouthed off in class to me, because I helped another student before her. Can you believe it? I asked her "What's with the attitude? Wait your turn." And she said " You ignored me, you're being rude, I shouldn't have to wait!" Loudly. Now, remember, there is one of me and 30 of them and I don't like it, I really don't need attitude from a student about it....

I have a four day weekend, because the governor of Georgia furloughed teachers for 3 days this semester. The first furlough day was July 31st, which was supposed to be my first day on the job pre planning and my new employee orientation. The governor said "3 unpaid days off" and each system chose it's days. So it's Elbert County's fault I never had a new employee orientation, which may be why I never was given a contract to sign. Might be, because I have been told that this is not the first time a teacher has been on the classroom for a month, or even a semester without a contract. My second furlough day will be the Tuesday after Labor Day, which most teachers are happy about because it gives them a 4 day weekend- setting aside the fact that a furlough is a temporary pay cut. Of course, I never signed a contract so I really do not know for sure what my yearly salary is supposed to be, but I know whatever it was it cut down by 3 days. I know some of you migh...