It’s not even 10am and I am so ready to go home. My big midsummer raking epiphany isn’t going away, in fact, my resolve is strengthened to find some other way to impact the lives of young adolescents.
Because you should never talk about work online, blah blah blah, I won’t get into it, but suffice it to say that the current state of affairs in my workplace is detrimental to many things. Is that vague enough? Politics, NCLB, people who make decisions about what goes on in my room, while not able to even fucking LOCATE my room on a school map, all of that? There has to be a better way.

I have people with middle school kids telling me to stay, that kids need people like me. (The latest: I gave them a Math Quizzle, and then said “Fo shizzle ma nizzle” under my breath, loud enough for two kids to hear, and they about died, heh.) I love the kids, I love the age group. And if they had any idea what the world does to disenfranchise them, they would be outraged. I’m keeping my eyes wide open, barrelling through, and I’m pleased that another month has turned over.

I never used to get headaches, and I’ve had one all week, it seems.
There are better ways to impact the lives of kids. I need to find them.

ANYWAY. Preparations for Halloversary ’04 are underway. Dave’s zombie costume arrived, as did two headstones. We already had three strobe lights and some severed limbs, as well as a collection of skulls and other cranial accoutrement for the front yard. I ordered my costume, a haunted tree face for the oak out front, and a decal sign of dripping blood spelling ‘beware’ for the storm door. The “Caution: FRESH GRAVES!” tape is on backorder, and we need a skeleton to hang from a tree. The candy has been purchased, and hidden under lock & key in the garage so that I don’t eat my weight it Reese’s products. Hopefully we have enough. Also, hopefully, kids come to our neighborhood. If we can establish ourselves as The Scariest House on the Block, our reputation will bring in more next year, is what we’re thinking. And then we’ll end up in the paper as The Wacky Halloween Freaks of the West Side, and have to refi our house to supply candy.

So, yeah. I am ready ready ready for June. Or even to be knocked up and using sick days willy-nilly. Something. Anything.