Ok, so am I an active user of LiveJournal if I post semi-annually? I just realized my last post was in January...

I'm almost at the midpoint of my official summer vacation. I drove from Florida to North Carolina last weekend and have spend the last five days playing handbells for the first time since 2004, and spending some quality time with my best buddy for college, Dan Keller.

Dan and I have one of those friendships where we are apart for years, but when we are in the same room, we just seem to pick up right where we left off; poking fun at the world and each other, going from smartass barbs to relatively deep thoughts and emotions, working together to get whatever needs to be done completed, and basically supporting each other. It's been awesome hanging with him this week. He's going through some tough stuff right now, and I'm having my usual existential malaise that happens whenever I actually sit, stop, and think about what's going on in my life. Probably doesn't sound like I very good week, but it's been very therapeutic, affirming, and yes, FUN!

As for the handbells, I really enjoyed my week of playing, but don't really miss the activity. I didn't know if playing for a few days would rekindle a fire that I once had for playing handbells, but that was not the case. I have lots of interests, so no great loss that I'm not suddenly interested in this one again.

I'm going to Knoxville Airport tomorrow afternoon to pick up Mike. We'll be in Sevierville, TN for a week, then drive home on July 4. We'll spend a few days with my parents, then finish the week up on our own. It should be a fun and relaxing week.

I'll try not to wait six months before the next post. :-)

OK, so I finally stopped watching episodes of Star Trek: Voyager (SPIKE is pretty much a wasted cable network except for those reruns as far as I'm concerned... MANSWERS???) and cleaned off the dining room table. Mike's been out of town for work for the past three weeks, so I was the only one in the house. I kept looking at the stacks of magazines and mail and wishing they'd be gone, but they just stayed there, ignoring my wishes. I'm glad he'll be back tomorrow night. Maybe that will help me rest a little better at night and stress eat a little less (another topic for another post!)

The last three weeks have been relatively dark, figuratively and literally, for a number of reasons. The days are short enough now that it's dark when I leave to go to work, and that's a total downer (not to mention a justification for leaving late for work). That will change this coming weekend, but then it will be dark at 6:00 pm. UGH. I don't want to live on the Equator, but I do wish days were a little longer in the winter. Also, as much as I love having "me" time, I don't necessarily like getting it in three week doses. Mike and I have been together long enough that we're not attached at the hip, but it's just comforting to know at the end of the night that you're not in bed alone. Alone is OK if that's what you're used to it, so don't feel like I'm slamming all those "poor single people" out there. It's just an adjustment when you don't have your S.O. at your side. Also, it still seems like work isn't going to slow down at all. Job security is good, but job stress isn't. That kind of work setting can contribute to making some dark days.

I'll probably try to clean a little more tomorrow. Picking Mike up at the airport at 10:00 tomorrow night. Welcome home, hunny! :-)

Those days are coming back... Those days when you can turn off the air conditioner, open the windows, and enjoy the nice cross breeze. These are the days that remind me of why we wanted to move to Florida. Now that I've been here a few years, I know to enjoy these next few weeks, because soon all the snowbirds will begin to arrive and things will get a lot more crowded. Around Thanksgiving we'll start cooking at home more and eating out less to avoid the crowds, and we'll hear sirens more, knowing that some retiree is in medical distress. Ah the sounds of Florida...

This year the fall change in weather is particularly welcomed. The school year has been very stressful. With budget cuts we've been trying to provide the same amount of service to students with fewer teachers and staff. I've brought work home more this year than in any other job I've had. The war continues in the Middle East, and the idiot who led our way in still blindly says that we're doing the right thing and that we're winning. The economy is in horrible shape. My job is safe, at least for now, but like thousands of other folks, we have a home in foreclosure because when we moved our old place never sold. I am at an age now where I think about retirement and what it might hold, and with recent news I don't even want to look at what's in my retirement account. I am in for the long haul, so I know we will recover, but this rollercoaster ride is not fun.

But in spite of all this, the temperatures are falling, and the beautiful blue sky is still up there. It's always refreshing for me when I can stop long enough to appreciate my surroundings. I have to look up above all the For Sale signs and the gang graffiti and the trash on the side of the road and the many older faces who just refuse to smile. If they don't smile back, I just go into a goofy grin which sometimes really freaks them out, but I digress. I look up and see the brilliant sky, the puffy white clouds, the trees swaying in the breeze, or I hear the sound of the wind chimes on our carport, and I know that even though we're all in distress, the world goes round and eventually we'll be back to better times.

Speaking of better times... VOTE DAMN YA, VOTE!!!

And while I'd never force my opinion on anyone, I have three words: O-Ba-Ma!

And if you're not planning to vote Democratic, let me say something even scarier...

"And now, here's President Palin..."

It's been months since I've written anything on LiveJournal. My buddy Moose has sent me a couple of gentle reminders encouraging me to post something, so in honor of his birthday, I'll try to come up with something...

It was the best of times...

Mike and I are going to see Avenue Q tonight in Tampa with a friend of ours, then we're staying in Tampa tonight because we leave in the morning for NYC!!! We're going to see at least six shows, walk around, soak in the energy, and just have a great escape. I'll try to post some pics and daily updates if I can...


it was the worst of times...

Well, I'll find out on April 15th if I really am on the chopping block with the budget cuts. Knowing the situation and severity, I'm pretty sure I already have my answer, but it won't be official until the 15th. The old condo still hasn't sold, and legal proceedings are looming. I can sure use an escape... Wait a minute, I'm off to NYC tomorrow! I'm going to do my best not to think about the future while I'm there and enjoy life NOW. What's that song from Rent? NO DAY BUT TODAY!

Which Greek Goddess are YOU?! (great pictures) created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Demeter You are Demeter goddess of nature Demeter 100% Persephone 67% Gaia 59% Athena 59% Pasiphae 59% Leto 59% Rhea 50% Hera 50% Circe 42% Hekate 42% Artimis 42% Aphrodite 34% Hestia 33% Medusa 17%

Well,

Amendment One passed in Florida in January, giving everyone a slightly lower tax rate. At the time, legislators were promising to "hold harmless" all education funding. Apparently that's not what they really meant...

Based on the lower tax revenue because of Amendment One and the fact that the real estate market is for crap in Florida (and other places, but I DO think Florida went particularly real estate stupid, and yes, I meant to say stupid, not crazy!) which erodes the tax base, Manatee County School District says it's got to cut over $20 million dollars from its 0809 budget.

Manatee County administrators assured the Manatee Education Association, our "union" (in parenthesis because when we need strength and weight from the union, we often don't get it), that no teacher would be laid off. Teachers may end up in different schools teaching different things, but everyone would have a job. But then their official press release didn't even offer that solace. In looking to slash, it sounds like nothing is sacred...

Ugh...

Maybe that dream a few weeks back was a vision more than a psychological flashback.

Ragtime rehearsal tonight. I'll try to focus on that, more than the meeting I might be having with my principal next week...

Well, after about a 4 month hiatus, I'm back in a community theatre production. I thought I was going to be in the pit for Ragtime in May, but that didn't work out and now I'm in the cast. I'll be playing J. P. Morgan. He was really wealthy. Would be nice if art would imitate life! LOL

It's going to be exciting to do this show. The year it was new, it lost the Best New Musical Tony to, of all things, The Lion King. UGH! Now, no poo poo on Disney and TLK, but Ragtime is more relevant, and frankly just better music!

Of course the DOWN side to being in a show is that I'll have rehearsals probably five days a week and some of my home tasks will go undone, or I'll exercise less. Hopefully that second one won't happen. Mike will just have to pick up the slack on the home chores.... LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

No... really... it could happen! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

In other cool news, we both got iPhones a week ago. We activated them last Tuesday, and we're both working our way up the learning curve. Mike's spending too much time on his (and his vision is being affected to prove it) but we're both really enjoying them. We've both become texting fools! Love it, and our messages during the work day don't go through the school district's email system, so we can't be accused of wasting their resources.

Time for bed. Abbreviated week this week (we get Good Friday off) but I'll be testing all week, so I have to get to work early, or at least on time!

Congrats to the cast and crew of Alligators. I got to go up with them to Chattanooga for the Southeast Theatre Conference community theatre competition. They put on a great show! Bravo!!

Also a big congrats to every group that performed. There were three days of outstanding theatre!

I sat through every performance in the competition, took notes, thought about options, discussed it with my colleages, and then my conclusions didn't match very well with the final results. The only thing that makes sense to me is that the judges wanted to give big kudos to the shows with current social relevance? I don't know.

Next year at SETC I'm not even going to try to pick winners... Yeah, I say that now, I'll be back with my notebook scribbling bits of information on pages and trying to determine which show deserves highest honors.

Mike and I are off to DisneyWorld for the first time in almost 10 months. I think that's a record for us since we moved to Florida. Looking forward to a weekend of total escapism! It's been a busy week, even with Monday off for Prez' Day.

I had a dream last night that my supervisor called me into his office to tell me that I was going to lose my job. I had this lovely sense of dread all morning, wondering if my dream was just triggered by something that happened during my day on Monday, or if it was some sort of premonition. As it turns out, I didn't have anything to worry about, but I just hate that I have an impending-doom alarm that goes off in my brain from time to time. It's a kind of low-grade post-traumatic stress disorder, because once something happens to you, you wonder if it can even happen again.

Two years ago I was contacted by a school because I had expressed interest in working there if there was ever an opening. They called me in, interviewed me, and let me know that I was their choice to take the position. I was thrilled and started spreading the word to all my friends from past jobs and my job at the time. I got more than a few funny looks, folks asking me "Are you sure you want to work THERE?" but me in my happy oblivion went on with my plans.

I started the job in January and I could tell from the beginning that something just wasn't right. Leadership seemed to be coming from unusual sources, and direction and supervision was often dictatorial and illogical. Also, I was immediately thrown into territorial battles with others at the school. I've always been someone who worked to make the situation better if there are problems, and I set out to try to subtly make some changes. This was misinterpreted as some sort of insurrection on my part and I had a sense that after just a couple of months I was on the chopping block. Talk about fun!

Well, long story short, I was "released" in June of the same year. I knew it was coming. I had already taken my work keys off my key ring before I went in for my final meeting. I was fortunate that there was an opening at the school I had left and my old principal rehired me. I was SO lucky in that sense. I'm happy where I am and have no intentions of moving any time soon... But every time budget cuts are mentioned I start to get nervous. I also developed a decent sense of paranoia during my six months in Hades, which certainly adds to stress. I really hate that. Life has enough stress as it is without adding perceived stresses. It's a lot better than it was, but it comes up, just every now and then.

Thanks for listening. Do I owe you for reading this? I'll send you a check.

OK. I tried this in 2005, posted one entry, and then looked to find my password this morning.

A few weeks ago, an internet friend (should there be some kind of word for that like frienternet, or interfriend, or web-quaintence?) told me that he thinks I'd have a journal that's worth reading. Hence, the looking for my password this morning, remembering one of the reasons why I stopped (bad choice of my first Livejournal user name {now deleted, don't bother}) and then looking through and around the site to figure out how to change that name. Well, I could have changed it for $15.00, or I could just delete it and start a new one. Let's see... I made one entry two years ago (or was it three??) that would be lost for the ages... That was an easy one to figure out. OK, I had to ask Mike about it, but whatever...

So, what does a 43 year old with a degree beyond his intelligence, a near-empty bank account, and a brain that keeps telling him he's still only 24 years old have to say? Hmm... that's a good one. Check back in tomorrow to see.