Dumb Ideas

Every Sunday night for the past...I don't know...8 years...since my principal has been at our school, he sends out an "edict" detailing the goings on for the week. Yesterday morning when I opened mine, I read all the stupid end-of-year shit happening and then saw that he had written a tentative plan for next Friday, our work day. Normally on our last day, we have a staff breakfast where everyone brings a little (or big) something. We gather for last announcements and then are sent off to our rooms to finish up what needs done. If you finish early, bye! I think last year I was out by 9:00? Maybe 9:30. Anyway - on this week's edict under Friday 5/26, it said, "Staff Cookout". Obviously you can imagine my response. "Oh, HELL NO!" I'm not sticking around for hours with nothing to do because he wants to have a staff cookout. Dude, read the room! Most of us don't want to hang out with each other. More than most of us don't want to hang out with YOU! 

And then I'm hanging before school yesterday in the library, venting and preparing for the day. The art department head who I eat lunch with most days gets an email from the principal saying that the weekly department head meeting that was going to be cancelled, he's going to go ahead and hold it to discuss next years' goals. Oh, and he wants to talk about having a staff picnic where staff members can "bring your family to work". Uh fuck that! A) what staff member's loved ones can just take off or want to take off work to hang with a bunch of people they don't know that they've probably heard their husbands/wives bitch about? B) many staff members (not me) need that last work day to finish up in their rooms and having a "picnic" in the middle of the day is stupid and disruptive. I set the task to my friend to nip that shit in the bud! No one wants to have a cookout on the last day to prolong when they leave! No wants to do the breakfast either but that's certainly more manageable. And I'm telling you, I'm coming in, sending out my progress reports, cleaning up a few things (unless I do that during exam week) and then I'm out! 

I'm sure most of you are going to be relieved when I'm done with school so you don't have to listen to me bitch, right? I'm such a downer. Sorry!

Dinner tonight: I'll make some chicken burgers with fries and probably green beans. Something easy. 

Boo! He's in so much trouble. He woke up at 11:30 last night barking his head off at the back door. Jim and I ignored him and he eventually came up and settled down. Then around 12:00 he started barking his head off upstairs. There was obviously something outside making him nuts but he's a crazy man if he thinks I'm going to let him out to wake the neighborhood up. This is why spring sucks!  I told him, "When Diane is here this weekend, you better not be a bad boy and do that to her!" 

And that's about all I've got. I'm reading the last chapter today in our novel for ELA (A Lesson Before Dying) and I'm going to cry my eyes out. I've already warned the kids. I mean, I've read the book about a dozen times but every time, the ending gets me all verklempt. I'm sure one or two of my students will get choked up too. 

K - happy Tuesday. Later!