Yep

I am so glad tomorrow is Friday. I didn't even work Monday because of the snow. So this four day week has been looooong.

Holy Shitballs

I need a drink. This job is too much. One of my students did something horrible. I'll write about it later.

FRIDAY NIIIIIIIGHT

And I am still at work. til 8:30. But, I have nothing to complain about, because my 12:30 to 3:30 class didn't actuall start until 2:40 because there was a fight, so there was no movement (meaning no one can go anywhere in the prison, therefore cannot leave their cells to come to class). So I sat around and bs-ed with my coworkers for two hours. I am guessing I won't be so lucky tonight...the 5:30 to 8:30 class doesn't usually start til 6ish anyways. Not so bad, really. No big plans for the weekend...finding Laura a job is on the top of the list. OH so grandma gave me a week of her timeshare and I used my $50 companion fare, so Laura and I are spending a week in Mexico March 29 to April 5 for like $400 bucks each total, airfare AND condo. WOOHOO. I love being a teacher. Same schedule. Two week spring break. Summers off. Life is tough.

Holy Shit

Holy shit Heath Ledger is dead. I have an overwhelming urge to call Mamie. I can't believe it. I'm sorry to all you homophobes out there, but I loved Brokeback Mountain. I loved all his movies. He was a hottie. Damn now he's dead. I think I am in shock here.

Thank God this week is over

God damn it I just wrote a blog and it deleted it. That pisses me off. Adds to this amazingly wonderful week. Well the talk/lecture went ok. I have trouble staying mad at them and they know that, but they did realize I was at least momentarily very angry, so that in itself is something new for them. I am never mean to them, ever. Even though I should be. Nothing got done the rest of the night because they all wanted meetings with me, but at least a bunch of them apologized and explained themselves and begged for a second chance before I gave them the boot. Tonight I have one inmate who is going to be HELL because he is mad at me. He deserves exactly what he gets though, because he has been copping a real damn bad attitute the last few days. Ok, the last four months to be exact. I am so happy that monday is MLKJr day so we have three day weekend. Gonna be a LOOOOONG quarter if it keeps going this way.

preparing....

for battle. Going to yell at my class tonight. Im tired of getting lied to and stolen from. Mean Karna must come out so I stop getting walked all over. I'm excited to tell them like it is, but also nervous. Have you ever lectured 18 convicts? Probably not.

The many faces....

I've decided "teacher" is just too simple of a title for my job. Teacher/policewoman/psychologist/counselor/preschool teacher/semi-friend is a better title. I say semi-friend because I am not allowed to "befriend" my inmates, but a certain amount of something resembling friendship has to be present for them to do what I ask. I guess it's more trust, since there exists a general rule of "don't trust anyone with a badge" be it an officer badge, a teacher badge, or a volunteer badge. A badge in general indicates we are in a position of power over them. Which is true, but some abuse it, some don't. It's true that I have the authority to tell them what to do, and they have to listen. I try to be fair, though, and listen to what they have to say to me. Yes, if someone is being an asshole and wants to leave early, I am generally an asshole back and make them stay just to be vindictive. That sounds evil. But like any school, like with my 8th graders last year, it's a "give respect get respect" expectation around here. I do find myself in the position of counselor as well, more and more now that they know me. Not that I can do anything to help their situation, but just like the "friend" thing, although I am not supposed to be listening to their life story, they have to trust me for me to be able to teach them, therefore I must become temporary shrink once in a while. I am rambling, but these were my random thoughts for the day.

Heartbroken

Sorry, I was too depressed to write all weekend. The hawks got their asses handed to them after a promising 14-nothing lead FOUR minutes into the game. Damn packers gave them a handicap and we still blew it. Today has been just lovely at the prison after all the shit I talked last Friday about my team winning. oops. I got to school to find that my classroom had been busted into and my corkboard thing was covered in pictures of packers tackling hawks, headlines such as "Lack of passing game dooms seahawks", and pictures of cheese. Goddamn cheese. You've got to be kidding me. Damn teachers aids/clerks that work for me. I should fire them all haha. Nah at least there is a sense of humor around here, even if it revolves around making me look stupid.
On a happier note, Laura and I went out and bought an entertainment center, two dvd wall mount shelves, and a huge mirror for the end of the hallway so we now have a catwalk to check outselves out. Sweet.
It is snowing in Monroe all of a sudden, so if I have to stay at the prison overnight due to closed roads, I will write more to kill time tonight. Haha that damn well better not happen.

Deep thoughts

well, not really that deep. sorry it's been three days. I DID figure out who Mark is, he works with me, I have just not known him by that name so I was confused...turns out for a smart person, I am confused quite frequently. So, last night I was feeling sorry for myself because I got to thinking how my life is boring. I came to this conclusion because of 4 people I was thinking about:
person 1) lives in a party city, bartends, and meets famous people all the time
person 2) lives in ITALY with her ITALIAN boyfriend and travels europe all the time. Couldn't possibly be more jealous of her life right now.
person 3) married with a baby
person 4) married and quite prego

Now I am not saying that I want to be married and I CERTAINLY do not want to be knocked up. IT's just that their lives are all fallen into place where mine involves a lot of debt and two roommates. hmmm. This morning, though, I decided that in fact my life is not that bad. I just went to Vietnam. Then Alaska. Although I do not live there with my italian boyfriend, I DID live in Italy for 6 months. Longer than most people. And I work at a prison, which is rarely boring. So, quarter-life crisis averted.

In the prison world, not a lot is exciting right now. Which is usually the way we want things. My class shrunk to 5 students by the last hour last night, one of the rare times i was BORED beyong belief. Today's morning class....hmmm....yep nothing big, just school. Tonight's class is coming up, though, so maybe something fun will happen. By fun, I mean either "dramatic", "exciting", well basically stuff that is not supposed to happen. Keeps things interesting when things happen that are not supposed to happen. Mark, don't get mad at me for wanting your job to get harder tonight. HA!

Now I Get It

First day back to work at prison. Woohoo. I think I overuse the phrase "woohoo." Morning class I have 15 but only 4 showed since I was not here Thursday and Friday so they assumed they did not have class today either. I used my new guy who is 6'9" or something ridiculous like that, like my bro, to help me hang my new math posters. YAY math posters. Only a nerdy teacher would get excited about math posters. Tonight I have 18 registered, but I'm guessing the showing will be low since once again they do not know I am back...oh well. I better not complain about lack of work since by the end of the week I will be back up to 25 inmate students. And it is not always easy to keep 25 inmates, ages 18 to 60, interested, quiet, and working. 8th graders were often more cooperative.

Too much wedding

Too...hungover....to blog....right now.....

Wedding day tomorrow

No, not my wedding day. If I was old and married you wouldn't want to read my blog. My cousin Tonia and Brandon (he's not my cousin haha) are gettin hitched at 7 pm at the Elks Lodge. Should be a good time. The reception follows immediately in the same spot as the wedding, and seeing as my family, ahem, likes to drink, it should be quite the party. My half sister also rolls into town tomorrow, who I have not seen in 5 years. Whom I have not seen? Hmmm. You'd never guess I'm an English teacher. So, tomorrow I will possible try to think of something interesting to write about. OH MY GOD I NEARLY FORGOT tomorrow at 12:30 is the Hawks first playoff game against the Washington Redskins. GO HAWKS! I have no bet on this game for once, but my dignity is at risk. I get a lot of shit for being a Hawks supporter.

My blog does not suck, Mark

I'm not sure who Mark is, I know a few of them, but to you Mark, my blog does not suck. It HAS sucked recently, I admit, but now I am a blogging machine and it will be fantastic. Prison news, travelling news, making plans to go abroad to somewhere and finding out 6 hours later that there is a mass genocide going on in that country...what could possibly be more interesting?
So, that said, I really am going to have to reconsider my Kenya trip seeing as there are a lot of people currently dying there. I imagine by the time I get enough money and time off to get there the genocide will be over. In the meantime, I will think about Australia instead.
Bachelorette party was last night. Good time. Penis hats, penis straws, penis cups, penis cake. What more could a bride-to-be ask for.

Hotel Rwanda

Look at that, two posts in three days. Already I'm all over that resolution. At this rate I'm gonna kick this resolution's butt. So I watched Hotel Rwanda tonight for the first time. I took a few African history classes in college. Africa interests me. So, being the activist and world traveler that I am, I already found multiple volunteer organizations for various African countries. Kenya interests me the most. I would LOVE to do some sort of volunteer thing about Female Genital Mutilation, and I swear that does not make me creepy, but seeing as I am not a medical professional I have been looking at teaching positions, of which there are a ton. Nairobi and all the towns surrounding it. So, now I need money and time. Karna has a mission.

Happy New Year!

damn i suck worse than ever before. two months! no post in two months! New Years Resolution: Write a blog post once a week, if not more. well new years eve was pretty fun last night, danced for like 4 hours so i am not even hung over. woohoo. I spent two weeks in Vietnam with my friends last month. also a very good time. prison is going great, i love it. I will give moer regular updates on the goings-on in the prison, that oughta get me some readers. everyone loves prison. so, give me shit if i don't keep my resolution. harass me.