I was reading back on some of my old posts and most of them are filled with complaints and laden with guilt, which really isn't me (usually). I can be a little dark and cynical, but hey I grew up in New York. However, even though my situation right now is a little less than ideal, there is a silver lining to every cloud and I wanted to list a few things that put a smile on my face.

1. Warm kisses from my German Shepard.

2. A blast of heat after coming inside from below freezing weather, add a hot cup of coco and I'm set.

3. Designer clothes on sale, especially shoes.

4. After I've spent so much time and effort on planning my lessons, teaching and reteaching, to see the look on a childs face when he finally "gets it" Honestly, it makes all the other bullshit I deal with in my profession worth it.

5. All the different and unique people I've gotten to meet with an open mind because of where I live.

6. Being able to talk as openly and raunchy as you want when your with good friends, a bottle of wine, and no pretenses.

7. Fitting into my skinny jeans (women I know you can relate).

8. Music by The Killers, Bon Jovi, and Billy Joel.

9. Not dreading going to work everyday.

10. Getting an e-mail that says "Blog Comment Recieved." It really makes me happy to hear from my blogger friends.

Well thats some of the things that make me happy, see I'm not always dark and gloomy.

I just want to send out a heartfelt "Thank You" to all of those who stuck up for me when that mean blogger was being, well, mean. I just have to remind myself that for every ass out there, their are a lot of wonderfully supportive people who will not judge me or put me down. I just have to try and not be so sensetive. So thank you all.

I swear, this week felt like it lasted all year long. Monday I had Parent/Teacher Conferences and then an hour of Professional Development (which is the city's way of torturing us), Tuesday I had to cover another teacher's after school until 4:30; it was fifth grade and Oh. My. God. They were like animals. I had to really put them in their place. It made me so glad that I teach second, they're still young enough where there not nasty. Then Wed was forever, Parent Teacher Conferences from 6-8:30, I was at work for almost 14 hours. Thursday and today I'm seriously shot. I had no time to blog this week, A was up my ass. Things have actually been getting better with us, we talk more and have been having a lot of fun. It's the friendship and compatability that will last, it's just that spark I miss. LG has been creeping into my thoughts a lot lately, but I haven't acted on anything. I was considering maybe shooting him a text message, but then I saw Derailed and thought better of it. It was a great movie and I recommend it. It's a shame, LG was hot. I guess he'll just have to be passed into the string of men that go through my mind when I'm spending quality time with my rabbit ;-)

I've been thinking a lot lately about life and how things get so complicated. Nothing is as easy as you thought it would be, but think about it. Life is what happens when your busy making other plans. The path isn't always how we thought it would go, there are detours and sometimes we get horribly lost. And there are times when we feel so alone that we swear we want to give up. But we all keep walking. I don't know where I'll end up in life and I don't want to know because getting there is where the fun is.

Today at work I had parent teacher conferences where the parents come to pick up the report cards. As some of you may know I teach an inclusion class with special ed. and at risk students, so they are a lot lower than where they should be academically. Therefore I have about 8 students who are promotion in doubt. When I told one of the mother's today that her son needs a lot of work in reading before he's on grade level I thought she was going to explode.

She was very nice to me, but she went beserk on her son. Yelling and screaming and calling him stupid and worthless. I try as much as I can to respect the parents, but I couldn't let her talk to him like that. So I sat her back down and calmly and as nicely as I could, I told her that positive reinforcement was the best way to improve academic standing. That and a lot of practice. How could a mother honestly think that they can bully their child into getting good grades? Now I'm nervous that every time I've sent a sad note home this seven year old gets berated. I wonder how many of my students have home lives that are like this? It really breaks my heart.

Check out the comment on my last post. Totally rude and inappropriate. You want to disagree with me, that's fine, but to be so rude is unacceptable. When did it start to be ok to talk to people like that? Honestly, I'm disgusted. I may not be perfect, but I don't treat people like that.