How I spent my Saturday...

Today I went dress shopping with Jill and the rest of her bridesmaids. After hitting four stores and then discussing the wedding plans over dinner, I decided to continue the theme at home. I was in the mood to sit on the couch in comfy pj's and watch cheesy movies. So I chose "The Wedding Date," followed by "Father of the Bride." And I'm giving myself a pedicure, just for the sheer hell of it.

It's all good.

(And while we're on the subject, I have an alarming number of movies about weddings. I didn't realize that until tonight... The Wedding Date, Father of the Bride, The Wedding Planner, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Wedding Crashers, My Best Friend's Wedding... kinda scary, lol.)

Spooky.

Thoughts and Observations on Halloween 2008...

• Any girl prancing around in a blond wig and glittery dress was presumably attempting to be Hannah Montana.
• Boys' costumes haven't changed much in the past 5 years: Spiderman, Batman, or some version of the Scream mask with all black clothes.
• Older boys don't bother with costumes. They wear jeans and a sweatshirt, carry a pillowcase (or open backpack) and show up on your doorstep for free handouts. Sometimes there's a mask, but it's usually on top of their head, rather than covering their face. I think this is so they can get better view of the plethora of "sexy" costumes their female counterparts are wearing.
• Which brings me to this... There were more 12 year old girls with fishnets and mini-skirts than I cared to see.
• While we're on that... Joe and I had an extensive phone conversation about those particular costume pieces (while I was giving out candy, no less... lol). We decided that pretty much anything can be added to fishnets and a miniskirt to make a "costume." For example: add wings, and you have a fairy. Big hoop earrings and a bandana? A pirate! Wear horns and carry a pitchfork... devil! A tail and ears? Bunny! Doesn't take much imagination to create a costume out of that. (I've neglected to mention that my costume from last year was exactly that... fishnets and a miniskirt. Paired with a red hooded cape and a basket to become Red Riding Hood. Sigh. I've become One of Them.) But seriously... little girls and fishnets are a big no-no. That's what leads to 17 year olds with toddlers.
• Speaking of mommies... it seems to be perfectly acceptable for a mommy to parade around the neighborhood with her itsy-bitsy little bundle of joy (clad in a cutesy-wutesy little costume) and hold out a treat bag. I'm talking 5 month old babies here. Pre-teeth. Who do these moms think they're fooling? I know damn well who's eating that candy. (By the way, my mom's rule of thumb is that the babies get Dum-Dum lollipops.)
• Someone needs to teach kids some Halloween etiquette. Let's start with this: "Trick or treat!" It's simple. Three words. Some kids just walked right up to me, thrust their bag in my face and waited. No eye contact, no smile. And certainly no "Thank you," after the candy was dropped in the bag. And kids? When someone says, "Happy Halloween," it wouldn't kill you to respond.
• Another word about Halloween etiquette. When someone gives you a piece of candy, it's not polite to respond with, "Is that it?" or "Can I have the other kind instead?" And it's NEVER acceptable to try to score an extra piece of candy by lying and saying your brother is in the hospital.
• A word about older trick-or-treaters in general: once you reach high school, STOP. Seriously. You're too old to dress up and collect candy from your neighbors. Go to Halloween parties instead. I actually had three or four adults (not in costume) come up to my door with treat bags. They were walking with a group of children, so I guess they thought they deserved candy, too.

It's no wonder I felt the need to hit the bar after the crowd died down. Screw the Halloween candy... I was ready for beer and wings!

News :)

My brother got engaged last night!!!

Congrats, Doug and Jill!!!

My afternoon, in haiku form.

Haiku 1
My feet are aching,
And my throat is all scratchy:
Back to School Syndrome.

Haiku 2
Goldfish crackers rock.
They're so freaking addictive.
Like crack in a box.

Haiku 3
Sitting, wasting time,
I could be making copies.
Nah - I'll just go home.

requiescat in pace

By now you may have heard or read about the police officer who died in the line of duty last night. Sadly, Officer Nazario was a member of our school family. Her daughter is a recent graduate of our school, and her sister (who is also a police officer) has a daughter (who I taught four years ago) in our 5th grade.

According to the news, Officer Nazario and her partner were responding to an ongoing car chase between another police vehicle and a 16 year old unlicensed driver in a Cadillac Escalade. The driver was also allegedly drunk. He plowed into the police car on the passenger side at such a high speed that both officers had to be removed with the Jaws of Life. Officer Nazario was killed... her partner (who was driving) was injured.

The 16 year old was apparently was being chased by officers because they suspected the SUV was stolen. He fled from the officers because he had escaped custody in Family Court last year and "didn't want to go back to jail." He floored it (they estimate he was driving between 50-70 mph), ran several red lights and then hit the car that Officer Nazario was riding in. He fled the scene on foot and was caught by police. I just read that he's going to be tried as an adult.

It's always a terrible tragedy when an officer is killed in the line of duty, and this is no exception. But there are so many things about this particular case that make me angry.

• The boy was only 16 and already had a record. How sad is it that by the age of 16, he had already done enough to get in trouble with the police?
• If he was indeed drunk, how did he get access to alcohol? Was it stolen? Did someone buy it for him? Was it readily available to him at home?
• He was driving a car without a license. How did he have access to a car? Who gave him the keys? Was it stolen? Or "borrowed" when some family member wasn't around?
• He ran from the scene. Apparently he thought he was man enough to drink underage, man enough to drive an SUV without a license, man enough to get involved in a car chase with the police. But he's not man enough to own up to murder. When the shit finally hit the fan, he ran like a scared little boy. And maybe that's all he really was in the first place. Maybe all the things he did were just a way for him to get noticed.
• And while we're on that subject... where the hell were this boy's parents? A 16 year old who has a record, who drinks, who drives recklessly without a license... how does it manage to get this bad without someone in his family noticing and doing something about it?

It's a terrible waste of a life. The city has lost another officer... a girl has lost her mother. Please pray for the family of Officer Nazario, especially for her daughter Jazmin. And pray also for the family of the murderer. They have a very different cross to bear this weekend.

Drowning.

My first week back at work went very well... until today. Some of you may remember when I blogged about the paycheck gap that we had to endure this year. If you don't, here's a summary: our salary is split into 26 pay periods a year. Our 26th pay fell on August 15th. Our first pay of the new year doesn't come until September, so we didn't get paid on August 29th. That meant three weeks between paychecks instead of two.

However, I mistakenly thought that our first paycheck of the new school year was scheduled for today. In all the confusion, I forgot that we're paid biweekly, so the first pay cycle of the new year ends NEXT Friday. So I actually had a FOUR week gap between paychecks. But because I thought I was getting paid today, I had budgeted everything based on today's pay.

When I found out that we're not getting paid until next week, I kind of lost it. I drove home in tears, in a panic about the bills that are due (or overdue) before that next pay comes. I've spent the past few months stretching my money, paying the minimum on bills, buying non-brand name products, using any coupon I could find, turning down opportunities to go to the bar, and transferring whatever money I could afford from my savings account. I literally have no money left to fall back on. I'm at rock bottom and it scares the shit out of me. I had to call my mother and ask to borrow money. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

This is not the life I wanted. I worked my ass off to get my degrees and my certifications so I can have the career I want. Despite all of that, I couldn't get hired by a decent school district, so I have to spend another year in the Catholic school... living paycheck to paycheck, cutting corners, making sacrifices. And now I have to take on a second job. It's just not fair. There are people who dropped out of college who get paid more than I do. I went to college so that I wouldn't have to work retail, so that I wouldn't have to work weekends and holidays.

I'm just so tired.

**Edited later**
I just re-read this blog and realized how bitchy I sound. I wanted to clarify, just for the record... I didn't mean to imply that I'm better than someone who didn't finish college or that I deserve more than they do or that working a retail job is bad. And I know I'm not the only one who has ever been in this position. I was just really upset when I wrote the blog. I threw a very public self-centered pity-party and didn't feel like being politically correct. Hope I didn't offend anyone.

Smoooooth.

I know I'm having money issues... and I know I should prioritize my expenditures. But I had to go to Target for some work stuff today and I picked up a pack of Schick Quattro replacement razor blades. I can't handle the nicks and cuts anymore. I need four blades. I need a pivoting head. I need moisturizing strips with aloe. I need a smooth shave, damnit!!!

Plus, I get paid on Friday. So I'll consider it a little gift for surviving three weeks between paychecks. Tee hee...