Well, it's been a busy few days again! On Friday it felt like it had been two weeks since the last Friday. -and things don't look to be getting lighter in workload either. Much of the problem is that I keep adding more work for myself. I see so much that can be improved at work and I get myself involved in things that take lots of time outside of work hours to do. It's almost like September again!!

On Tuesday I open up my negotiations for my next contract here. I'm unfortunately not very optimistic about the outcome mostly due to the state's climate on funding right now, but am optimistic about the long range planning that will happen with my position. It's very sad because I've actually got more qualifications than half of my board and most of my district principals, but I am paid 20-35% less than them all. Also, if it weren't for me, this year alone 4 districts would have gotten into some serious compliance (meaning: ILLEGAL) issues because they don't know enough about special ed law, rules, and regulations to know better. That's what my job is. So, they pay me pennies and I save their ass. I am also doing a lot of supervising of their teachers by ensuring they are following due process guidelines, which is a major part of their job descriptions, but 85% of the principals have absolutely NO clue what that means...so here I am again to save ass which allows them to keep THEIR high paying jobs. I knew it would be like this going into this position this year, but my learning curve has been incredibly high this fall and I have grown by leaps and bounds and I do believe that I've proven my worth to this place more than is humanly possible. In fact, when people ask if I'm returning next year and I say I don't know, they have started telling me how they hope I stay because they feel I'm doing very good things here and starting to make changes that have been needed for a long time (which I agree).

That's very nice to hear. It's great for the ego and it's also very good for my gauge of effectiveness. However...it's also bittersweet. Words are nice. But actions are what mean the most to me. In fact, I find that I don't listen well sometimes because I don't want to hear it. I want to SEE it. Don't tell me what you're GOING to do or what you know you HAVE to do or what you'd LIKE to do but just can't seem to do it for whatever reason. DO IT. Show me with an adequate contract that I'm so awesome (apparently). And that's all I'll say about that.

So today I got my tires installed. Wooo Hooo. $1000.00 down the drain. Well, not really because I still believe it's a great investment for my car -and my safety in my car. I went to Brainerd this afternoon to have lunch with a friend of mine and then we decided to go up to Walker to the casino. I hate casinos and I don't often go at all. In fact, I hate gambling. Usually. Today was not much different because I was losing VERY bad. Every single slot machine. Then I played the Wizard of Oz, which usually kicks my ass, but I LOVE the bonus rounds and REALLY love when Glenda the Good Witch of the North comes to spin the wheels and win me money. Well, I was about $80 down when Glenda came and gave me 4 reels of wilds and won me $130!! I played $10 bucks of that down and promptly cashed out. Then I put a $20 in the machine next to me (wizard of oz as well) and FINALLY won the bonus round where the flying monkeys won me $10 more so I cashed out of that one. All in all I was $50 ahead when I left. So for once a casino was good to me. Did I tell you though, that I hate casinos? I do. It will be a very long time until I go back to one willingly. Before I went to lunch though, I did some shopping and found some incredible deals at Herbergers. I got 4 sweaters and a hoodie for under $80. One of the sweaters was regularly more than that. They've got a great 70% off clearance sale going on now and wow are there a lot of great clothes on sale!!

I have to get some work done tomorrow and I can't stay at home to do it. In fact, I need to go somewhere downtown and do my work -preferably somewhere without internet access so I can't goof around with other stuff when I should be working. I wish I had more time during the week to finish my stuff. I suppose I would if I didn't spend time in districts and making sure I was available to teachers. But...I think it's more important to be present and visible than locked in my office and doing my "projects" and paperwork. I've got the time and the ambition now.

I'm thinking I should be getting to bed. I'm getting chilly -and I think that when I'm tired I get colder, so that's a good clue to go to bed. It was SOOO warm today! It felt a little like late March today. That was super sweet. Tomorrow I hope it's warm again because I'd like to clear off my sidewalk better, as well as parts of my deck. People walked on the deck and part of the sidewalk before it was shoveled, so a bunch of snow has been packed and stuck there for a long time. I don't like that because I like to be able to have it all completely cleared.

Anyway, that's about it. I think I started writing this blog early-ish like 11 or so, but now it's closing onto midnight. I've been half watching SNL (which pretty much sucks tonight...even Laser Cats was stupid) and half typing this.

Thanks for tuning in. :-)