This is my rant

I am a teacher. I don't do it for the money or the glory. I am not a super hero. I am human. There are rules in place to keep your child safe. Some people get angry because of these rules. Sometimes mistakes get made...again, we're human. Budgets get cut, so teachers get cut. My average class is 40 students. I don't just "have fun" all day with your kids. I teach them how to sit criss cross apple sauce, how to raise their hand when they want to speak, how to manage their time properly, how to play nice with others, how to put a bubble in their mouth in the hallway, how to say please and thank you, oh, and how to sing.

My days are not always filled with joy and sunshine, but I have to put on a happy face for my kids no matter what's going on in my life. This is not an easy job...especially now.

So please remember when we do make a mistake (and we will), yelling at us isn't going to solve the problem. The first day of school is always going to be chaotic...no matter where you go. You may have to wait longer to pick up your child from the car rider line. Five hundred other parents had the same idea you did.

Just be patient with us. Teachers need positive reinforcement too!

The big Five - OH!

I'm happy to say that 50 pounds are gone! Yay me! Now, I'm not big on having my picture taken anywhere from the chest, down. It took quite a bit of looking to find a "before" picture...and it's not even at my fattest!

This was actually taken in 2007 on our family cruise. I'm about 8 pounds from my heaviest. Ugh!

And this...was taken today! :o)

If it weren't for my dang boobs, I'd probably look a little slimmer. I still have 26 more pounds until my goal, but what a difference 50 pounds makes!

Slow and steady sucks

This losing weight stuff is for the birds. So how long ago was that last post? Like, forever ago. I had 5 pounds to lose. Five measly pounds! And in all that time, I've lost just 3 of them. And I worked my butt off (literally) for those 3 pounds. So just 2 more until the 50 pound mark. It really does get harder the closer you get to your goal. But I am proud to say that I'm in a size 8 bottom. We just won't talk about the top. I'm still a little top heavy, but I'm working on it. And I may eventually meet up with a surgeon to take care of that issue.

Just 5 more!

Okay, just 5 more pounds and I'll be at a big milestone! I'm on the scale every day. I know I shouldn't be, but I just can't help it. I've finally broke my plateau that I'm not sure I already wrote about.

But I think I worked out too hard yesterday. I wore my heart rate monitor while doing Zumba, and when I finished, it said I had burned over 600 calories! I think I actually did a double take on my watch. That's almost double what I normally burn. I guess I upped my intensity quite a bit. I was all excited about it until today when I woke up. I've felt like a slug all day. I probably should have eaten more yesterday. Lesson learned.

You know what makes me a little happier?...

A NEW CAR!

It's my responsible dream car. I have other dream cars, but they would just be dumb ideas right now. It's a Toyota Camry. Actually it's Joe's car (my Corolla is gonna last FOREVER)...don't you just love Toyota?

Puppy didn't like sliding around in the back seat, so I put his seat in.

Ya, we're pretty happy with it.

Weight for it...

So I've realized that blogging isn't really my thing. I can never think of anything that's really blog worthy. Although I'm always out and about and think of something really awesome. But by the time I get home and on the computer, the thought's gone.

And I do take lots of pictures, but I don't think anyone wants to see pictures of my garden (I surprisingly haven't killed yet) or my dog. I don't have any fun baby stories because I don't have any babies. I know...I'm a sad little creature. Until then, you're going to have to read about me...just me.

And unfortunately, the one thing that consumes my life right now is my weight. So that's what you get to hear about. Exciting, I know.

I'm about 6 pounds from hitting the big 5-0. This is a big hurdle for me. I've never lost 50 pounds before (and yes, I HAVE needed to in the past). Fifty pounds is when you get to see before and after pictures. I'm still working on getting those 6 pounds off my belly.

I recently found a full body picture of myself at very near my heaviest (about 8 pounds less than my heaviest). I refused to take any pictures below my neck before all this began. I think I was in fat girl denial. But it's a good representation of how round I really was. So when the time comes (hopefully in the very near future) I'll be showing you what a difference 50 pounds makes...that's like half a skinny person!

The Unknown

This is the time of year where teachers everywhere start thinking about greener pastures...or maybe it's just me. It's no surprise to anyone who knows me that I hate my job. And I don't just think it's the place I work (although it IS sucking the life out of everyone who works there). Teaching's no fun anymore. You have to be too careful what you say and what you do. Administrators don't have your back anymore. Parents expect you to be miracle workers.

Our district has taken a huge budget blow for next year. Teachers getting RIFed (Reduction In Force) or transferred against their will. Unfortunately, this house was not unaffected. Joe was transferred from a job he loved at the high school to being the ONLY band director at one of the poorer performing middle schools. We've also been told that at the elementary level, PE, art, and music will be the only "specials" rotations at the school. That means 140 kids will be split between 3 classes. Doesn't that sound like a GREAT idea??!! Ya, we're really excited too. I don't know about you, but teaching 45 kindergartners at a time just sounds like the time of my life.

So the job hunting has begun. I have zero training and experience in anything but teaching, so you can imagine my resume has NOT been getting a lot of hits from employers. Personally, I think being a teacher qualifies me for a lot of jobs, but tell that to the guys at HR.