Operation: Working Vacation

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is where I will be in only two more days. As if I hadn't been MIA in the blog-o-sphere enough, this upcoming Friday through Wednesday, I will be MIA in the city as well. And I cannot wait. This very beach, the ocean breeze, the hot white sand, the clear waters... the cold beverage... all of the cold beverage... five days of absolute and blissful nothingness. God, can I leave now? Classy and Mr. Perfect are traveling Friday night to meet my family, including Mr. Super Athlete, for a week in Seaside, Florida-- all paid for via my fabulous parents. Could it be any more perfect? Only if it lasted two weeks instead of 5 days. Unfortunately, my 'super cool' workplace won't pay me to be at the beach any more than my current existing vacation days will allow. Those pesky bills to pay at the end of the month seem to ruin all the fun. Ah, well. Some is better than none at all... that is for certain. 

Speaking of my 'super cool' workplace and my desperate need for this overdue vacation, I promised explanation for my negative attitude towards said 'super cool' environment in my last post. For the past couple of months, I have been on the verge of miserable at work. While I have my good days and still find great comfort in my close co-workers, my 'higher-ups' continue to place me on that line between anger and misery more often than not. As of late, it has gotten better, however not more than a month ago, I was more than ready to be elsewhere being paid more money for some type of work where I was actually using the degrees that I had earned in school. Basically, they don't pay me nearly enough to talk to me or treat me the way that they were at the time. Ie. I don't know how to do my job or I'm not putting forth enough effort for the sake of my children, blah blah bullshit, blah blah. Funny how all of my quarterly personal evaluations since I've been teaching there have been nearly perfect scores, yet all of a sudden, I'm worthless. It was re-accreditation season for them, therefore their asses were on the line, so their stresses were forced upon their staff... it was my first go around with said season. Lucky me. I don't think I'll be around to witness another... I hope not anyway. After crying at work twice in two weeks, one could say I was more than a little fed up. However, being that I was in the middle of May Mania, I didn't exactly have time to vent such stresses here or put forth effort in looking for a new place of employment were I would be validated. I basically spent all of May avoiding my administration as to 1.) not be forced into fake conversation acting as if I was perfectly fine after the way I was treated or 2.) not be yelled at or condemned for anything else I could possibly be doing all wrong. My job simply isn't that hard. I promise I can handle it. Chill out. Anyway, as things have settled mostly, I'm back to complacency where I am at the moment. My resume has been updated and sent off to a couple of locations actually, but I'm not expecting much out of it. Not many industries hiring nowadays. The relief, however, of simply having it updated and available for immediate send out is quite enjoyable.

But not more enjoyable than the relief that my home away from home in Seaside is waiting for me a mere 72 hours from now. Ah, bliss. 

We Can't Forget, "These are the Days"

I'm trying my best to remember this on a day to day basis. As I'm gearing up for May Mania, I've also been struggling to cope with my current inner dilemma regarding my emotions around this time of year. While I'm thrilled for the upcoming events in the month of May, the weekdays in between the weekends seem to continue to both depress me and infuriate me... depending on the day. 

I'm so unhappy with my job. Within the past three weeks, I've cried three times while at work. Details aside, I'm working my ass off and still seem to come up short on a regular basis in regard to keeping my boss(es) satisfied. I'm over it. As many of the issues I have with my current career, the foremost at the moment is that they don't pay me enough to be on my ass all of the time when I know damn well I'm good at what I do, and most certainly not enough to make me cry and dread work as much as I currently do. I'm over the middle-aged women being jealous of the young, educated, and enthusiastic. I can't help but feel as if every little thing that I do is dissected simply to find fault. What is that? Honestly. I've known since I started this job that it wasn't a permanent situation. It's not what I went to school to do, but after moving to a new city and into a new apartment, and then looking for a job for what seemed like forever, I was happy with a starting out point that seemed as if it were a relatively positive environment to settle into while still looking for other options. Well, with a tanking economy and a new routine in general for this Classy Girl, I became quite comfortable in said positive environment until recently when the positive vibe has begun to drastically decline. I have been thrust back into the reality that this is not what I want to be doing for any longer than I have to. I have also come to accept that I let fear of failure hinder future wants or endeavors. Thus why I haven't taken the GRE, thus why I haven't been on the market for higher paying jobs that require more of me but that I know fully well I am capable of handling, thus why almost a year to date after my college graduation I find that I'm close to miserable more than not on a regular work day. I've never been one to give myself enough credit. So here I am. Poor pitiful me, huh? I'm not trying to play the pity card, just venting through what is currently a very frustrating period. 

Everyone that I've spoken with has understood my frustrations. All too often I've heard that your first 'real' job is never the one you most desire. My response: no joke. But I'm trying my best to push forward, not be rash, enjoy the good parts of my job (...most of my kids), and not be unemployed in our current monetary crisis. Thus, in honor of my post title, Sugarland's These are the Days, I leave you with a few of my favorite lines in the song...

It feels like we're living from paycheck to check.

We wake up wondering what might happen next.

Sometimes it feels like we won't make it through,

but the hard times pass like the good ones do.

Debbie Downer

So as a forewarning, this is quite the opposite from my last post. I've gone from excitement to depression in what seems like no time at all, but in actuality it's been five days, right? Okay, so I'm not really depressed, but it's been quite the "Debbie Downer" day. I'm so over my job. And that's an understatement, really. I know that I should be happy to have any type of job in this, our fabulous economic crisis, but really, I'm dying here. Even worse, I feel like I am shorting myself of true fulfillment in "settling" every weekday from 8-5p. 

I had a great weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed my 'vacation' back home and my long weekend out of work. I enjoyed time with Roxie and the rest of the SATC ladies. Not enough quality time, as Roxie stated, but any time is better than none at all. I knew I had problems however, when I was literally feeling sick on my drive back to the city last night dreading work this morning. 

I love my kids, really I do. It's the rest of the bullshit that goes along with the work I do that I hate so much. The women in my center seem to grow crazier every day. Because I'm young, educated, and cute (and modest), it almost seems that they put more pressure on me to get my work done. And God forbid it doesn't get done when they ask, even if we have meetings during our planning periods all week, we're still supposed to be on the ball. No excuses. I'm over it. They seriously don't pay me enough to deal with it. Another issue I seem to battle inside of my own head is that in my current job, I'm not exactly using either degree that I paid quite a bit of money to obtain. Now, while I might not care if I didn't find interest in either of my degrees, I do. Very much so. I feel like I'm cheating myself. I also feel like I need to be back in school earning a higher degree. I find myself jealous of friends still in school continuing to learn the material I so love. I'd just like to be using it. Buh. 

It's just been a bad day. Happy Monday indeed. Unfortunately for you, my bad days show up right along with my good days here. Just a lot on my mind tonight and my two extra strength tylonol hasn't made any of it go away yet... sigh...

What I Would Give...

For one day of this. Total Bliss.

If I have to suffer through more of this 29 degree weather with no snow and now rain... I'm going to scream. Now some of you might be saying, 29!? Wow, that's warm.. or some of you might be saying..cough.. Island Girl.. cough.. I'm glad I'm further South than you are enjoying my Spring-like weather. But this Classy girl? She's stuck. In the dead of winter, freezing temperatures, no snow, therefore, no snow days where one would get work days cancelled, and really pretty pissed off about it. We all know how much I hate winter anyway, but add rain to the equation...this is ridiculous. Tell me how, Mr. Super Athlete got all of his classes cancelled today because of weather conditions and he lives approximately 45 minutes north of me. Here, however, we get freezing rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Bah! Sure, roads are bad, trees are down in some areas around me because of ice weighing down the branches, but other than that, it's not like it's snowing or anything.

I really need a vacation.

My newly revamped classroom is beautiful. We worked really hard to get it the way we wanted it and the way it should've been to begin with. The kids absolutely love it. This also means that they are crazy in it. Way too excited. A positive and a negative. I knew it would come back to bite me. Today has just been one of those days. Not necessarily bad, but one of those... you know. The kind you just wish you could've slept through. I feel like I've raised my voice far too much, but all of it was necessary. My boss laughed when I was upstairs earlier, saying "I bet my teachers are praying for a snow day, right Classy?" ..... She has no idea. This afternoon, my children will be performing a snow dance. What that is, I don't know at the moment, but anything to get a day off, works for me. We'll see how that pans out. For some reason, I feel like I'm not that lucky. We'll find out.

Why Do Mondays Come So Quickly?

Nothing so exciting to report from the weekend. I suppose I had enough excitement last weekend to last me for a while. Saturday was far too busy to be considered a Saturday. I sat at the doctor's office for two hours on Saturday morning waiting for them to tell me that I didn't in fact have an ear infection, it was just sinuses and I needed a Z-pac and a decongestant. Thanks for that. I could've told you that when I was giving you my name and insurance card. I was, however, more than thrilled for my left ear to finally pop after two days and my hearing to be fully restored. I swear, these children will be the death of me. And tomorrow, guess what... Monday again! The beginning of another week. Two weeks ago: Pink Eye; Last week: Near Ear Infection/Terrible Sinus Cold; This week: stay tuned! 

I know, I know, I should be thankful that I have a job. And I am. I really do enjoy my work. But after a while, as with any job, I firmly believe that everyone wishes for just a short period of paid unemployment. I'm just saying, it'd be nice. I couldn't do it all of the time, I'd get bored. But vacations are nice. Paid vacations even nicer. 

Next weekend's events: Mr. Super Athlete's 19th birthday--even though his id would say it's his 24th? Not the point. Parents are returning to the city to celebrate. In other words, Classy gets free stuff! Hooray for S.A's day of birth! There's already a nice dinner planned for Friday night, I'm sure I can get the madre out shopping on Saturday, and Daddy always leaves extra cash when he leaves his little girl. Therefore, I'm working, working out, and counting the days until another weekend arrives. Is that the way everyone else lives? Weekend to weekend? Unless you work on the weekends, I can't help but assume it is. Oh, the days back in college when every day's work was about 2 hours of class, 2 hours of napping and a party at least twice a week to attend.... sigh. 

"Looks like someone's got a case of the Mondays...." Office Space

And I'm Proud to be an American!

...I feel like I should stand and salute or something. ha. Happy First Day of Office to our new Mr. President! Happy Wednesday to the rest of us.. What a day yesterday was, huh? Now, it's not like me to talk politics. Don't for a minute think I plan on starting here either, but I must say what an extravagant event, Tuesday January 20, 2009 was. Unfortunately, I was unable to watch most of the day's events as I was at work. I was, however, able to catch his speech and pass it for a history lesson. My kids don't even know what the word history means, but hey, I had to watch. I was glad I did, too. I was moved. It was very powerful, I thought. No matter who you voted for, you had to feel proud in those few moment that our nation had potential to make up for some of the downfalls or flaws thoughout recent years. No matter who is at fault for them. Today however, if I were President Obama... I would be thinking, "What the hell did I get myself into?" Then again, that's why I wasn't the one running. On the way to work this morning, my favorite radio morning show shared his schedule for this, his first day... Let's just say, I'd want to go back to last night's parties. But let's cross our fingers, maybe there's a politician out there that can truly make change for the better of society. I'm praying.

I'm also praying that I can make it through the end of this week. My schedule is so thrown off! Not that it should be. It's not like I get to celebrate national holidays like MLK Day like the rest of you. I was at work... with only five children. Tell me why we couldn't have had a three day weekend like everyone else? Exactly. There is no good reason. But whatever, I'm not the boss... Unfortunately.

The upside to being at work all week, through holidays and more sickness, is that my co-teacher and I have been brainstorming. We've asked for the funds and special treatment as the "golden children" of our workplace and of course, got what we wanted. Our classroom is getting a makeover this weekend! It's very exciting. It will require us to come in and do a little extra work ourselves, but hey, it's what we do. Anything for the kids, right? Well, almost. We'll be envied by everyone else, and really, that's what I go for in my everyday life...

Kidding... Mostly.

Anyway, another refresher for my refreshing new attitude I'm going with lately. I'm not going to bore you with my workout/diet/healthy living rountines anymore, because as you've seen, I have another blog for that now, but I can't express to you how much it has helped my mindset. I am so much more positive, more energized... generally, just happier than I was before my gym membership processed. I love it. I'm on my second liter of water for the day and am actually looking forward to returning this evening for my cardio routine. I hope everyone else is having a good week. If not, we're half way to the weekend... head up!

Drama Queen

Boy, am I blushing. Slight overreaction to Tuesday's events. My apologies for the ranting. Turns out, I was only deducted one point on my evaluation and it had nothing to do with the fact that I was late or that I had thoughts of child bowling. So we're square there. No worries.

This Classy Drama Queen does in fact have Pink Eye, however. Well, did... Still do I guess, but it's much better thanks to fabulous perscription eye drops. Bodelou, thank you for the sweet advice, but I had already paid $25 for mine. Thankfully enough, they worked quickly. So I'm okay with spending the money. Let's be real, I can't have pink eye balls for the pictures to be taken this weekend. So, although more than I wanted to pay for drops that supposedly cure my ails, it's okay. Bonus, today's payday. So once again, no worries.

The real excitement now lies within the next three days! My fabulous Island girl is headed to the city tomorrow afternoon! Hooray! I've worked out extra hard this week so I can enjoy all of the indulgences I'm most certain we'll find for ourselves. Good food, good music, good cocktails. Preferably quite a few of them. And lots of laughing. That pretty much sums up my favorite relationships in life. Including my friendship with I.G.

I've got some cleaning left to do around the apartment before tomorrow afternoon arrives. Cough. Still putting away Christmas. Cough... But other than that, I'm so ready for a relaxing and enjoyable weekend after this long week of infection, stress, and work. I hope everyone else enjoys their weekend! Happy Almost Friday from your once-in-a-while-a-little-too-dramatic Classy!

Surprise! You Suck at Life!

There should have been a sign on my bathroom mirror with these words in bright pink this morning. While waking up on time, I found that for the second morning in a row my right eye was slightly puffy and had excess 'sleep' around my eyelashes. Upon removing said 'sleep' I discovered it was slightly pink inside... If only this was the type of pink eye I was referring to. This I could handle. Except my eyes are blue. And I don't so much wear pink eye shadow very often. But that's not the point. Can anyone even remember the last time they had pink eye? Because I can't. I don't think it's full blown yet because it has yet to itch uncontrollably and water all of the time. I am, however, washing my hands eighteen times a day and steering clear of my coughing children who seem to swarm around me while jumping off the walls today with their snotty noses and unwashed hands. Gross.

Yes, this was the beginning of my morning. Followed by jumping into my car to realize I had plenty of time to get to work on time or maybe even a couple of minutes early. Until I looked down at my gas light. So, I stopped for gas, freezing. Roll into work about 5 minutes late to discover I'm being evaluated today by our Curriculum Coordinator. Fantastic.

Breathe in, Brush it off, Breathe out. You're fine.

My kids then proceed to be entirely out of control all morning. Fighting one another and running through the room, whinning and yelling. Do they know not to do this? Yes. Did they act this way yesterday when I wasn't being evaluated? Of course not. While I managed to be enthusiastic about my lesson even though I still felt terrible, I was pretty confident. It was too cold to go outside, however, and the longer the morning went on the more I wanted to knock their little heads together! Note: I would never. Just so you know. But I have thought about it. You would too.

When the CC left, my co-teacher just looked at me and laughed. She knew I was at a breaking point. Our last two evaluations have come back with perfect scores. They were both informal for me however because I had not been the lead teacher that day. Today, of course it was formal. And of course I was the lead teacher. It was my turn. And I sucked. You might think I'm being hard on myself. And I might be. I haven't gotten my scores back yet. But at this point, I want to press the rewind button and find myself back in bed cuddled up in my sweats. Or perhaps, fast forward until Friday. Eye drops in hand and work behind me for another weekend of bliss.

God help me. What a morning.

Have No Fear, The Weekend is Here!

As you could probably tell, the week started off a little less than par. Monday was a rough dayfilled with emotional inner-turmoil, children refusing to listen or follow directions, slight conflict with Mr. Perfect, and the beginnings of this sickness that has slowly conquered my body. However, as the week went on, my mood grew more positive. Yesterday was exciting and today is my day off therefore, you know Classy is a happy girl. Why was yesterday exciting you may be wondering? Well, it was the 42nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards. If you have read anything about me, you are aware that I love all kinds of music from T Pain to Jimmy Buffett, Destiny's Child to John Mayer, Christina Aguilera to Sugarland. And so, CMA day was quite exciting as AMA day will be next week. However, as the CMAs are held in Music City, Little Miss Classy was quite star struck just knowing how many celebrities whom I admire and sing along with daily were so close to home. It was quite a day. My morning drive to work began such excitement with just talk (via my favorite radio duo) of all of the fame less than ten miles away from me, a surprise visit from dear ol' Dad at work as he was passing through town continued the excitement, and the majority of my favorites winning last night concluded such a terrific Wednesday!

Recap if you're interested at all: 

1) Male vocalist of the year- Brad Paisley (for the 2nd year in a row)

2) Female vocalist of the year- Carrie Underwood (for the 3rd year in a row)

3) Song of the Year- Sugarland's "Stay"

4) Vocal Group of the Year- Rascal Flatts

5) Vocal Duo of the Year- Sugarland

6) Album of the Year- George Strait

7) New Artist of the Year- Lady Antebellum

8) Entertainer of the Year- Kenny Chesney (for the 4th year in a row)

...Those are the big ones I believe. Minus the leather pants that so many chose to perform in and a select other "what was she thinking?" moments, I'd say the fashion watch was pretty exciting as well. Don't worry, you'll get a recap of the AMA's next week as well. I'm a sucker for awards shows. I can't help myself. 

Anyway, today is my day off for the week. Another bit of good news/bad news is the change in schedule I'm preparing for beginning on the 24th of November. We're returning to 8 hour work days as opposed to ten. Bright side: No more 7:30-5:30 work days. I like the sound of 8:15-5:15. (Especially since there is a half hour of mandatory break and a half hour of overtime pay every day) Dark side: No more off days. However, if I'm not so exhausted working ten hours every day, I might not be so ready for an off day by the end of a long week. We'll see how it works out. I believe I'm okay with this at this point in time. 

Aside from my sickness, it hasn't been a bad week. I'm very much looking forward to my Friday and Saturday nights. The weekend is always the best part of any week. I hope all of you enjoy yours as well! If anything terribly exciting happens, you'll be the first to know... 

Sleeping Woes

This picture equals Heaven in my book. Lately, however, I have been noticing a trend. I've been getting in trouble for falling asleep... at night. Why you might ask? Yes, you read correctly. Night being the time when people fall asleep on a normal basis. Well, apparently, I'm not allowed to fall asleep when I'm tired. For one reason or another this week, I've been made fun of, yelled at, or worse... awoken after falling asleep or "resting my eyes" in the late hours of the evening. Okay, so some evenings these late hours are around 9:30 or 10:00pm, but that's aside from the point. The point is... I love sleep. I adore it actually. On occasion I wake up and the first thing I think about is the next time I can crawl back into bed. Is this a sin? I think not.

Let's break it down here. In my college days, God I miss them... I would go to class, eat lunch, nap for hours, eat dinner, gym, shower, maybe do some work, go out until whenever, go back to sleep... whenever I wanted to... which usually meant 2:00 or 3:00 am. That was the life. Now, however, I work ten hour days. Not four, not eight, ten. And not in some plush corner office at a desk. Chasing, entertaining and teaching children for ten hours a day. I'm not complaining. I signed up for it and I actually enjoy it. But am I entitled to be tired at the end of the day? I would think so. I would like to challenge some of friends who are still in college to waking up at 6:00am and going strong for ten hours then coming home and preparing dinner (or ordering pizza) and collapsing on the couch. See how long your eyes stay open once you're down for the count. Not very long. I'm not categorizing all of my college friends or those that have day jobs in plush corner offices. I'm not saying "Woe is me," because I'm well aware of friends in college or at desk jobs who work just as hard as I do and love sleep just as much. I'm just asking for a little leniency here.


Please. Thanks.




*Note, this soapbox is not about one particular circumstance or occurance, but multiple occasions with different people supplying me with equal scrutiny for wanting to catch a few zzzz's. Or accidentally doing so. Either way. Let there be rest for the weary.

Unbelievable.

Once again, another fantastic Wednesday. I had a total of 4 children in class today due to rain and sickness, I suppose. No matter, it was a relaxing day filled mostly with decorating my classroom for the Autumn season. Favorite sub with me again and all 4 children were my "good kids" of the class. Pretty easy day... so it had to be something before the end of it, right? Right. 

It's just always something. And today, it was a very flat tire that I heard rumbling around as I got off the interstate headed home from work. Luckily, I was the dumbass who continued driving the one to two miles from the interstate to my apartment. I know, I know. Retard. Listen, it's sketch around here, I'm not trying to stop somewhere I'm unsure about.  It's cool, I'm okay, wheel unbent and all. Anyway, I'm now awaiting AAA to come and rescue me. 

And it all comes back to the fact that I need a new car. Briefly mentioned in prior posts, there could be one in my future. Look, I know you can just as easily end up with a nail in a new car's tire as you can with my Little Red, however it's just one more thing to add to the list of faults poor Little Red has grown to acquire. Yes, she's been a good car... most of the time. See Roxie's tribute for details. Even so, it's time to move on. Seriously time. 

End of rant. Chalk another one up to Wednesdays. Pah.

Am I the Only One?

Probably not is the answer to that question. But I'm just throwing it out there.. I feel like I've fallen into a hole. A hole of no return. A hole known to most as adulthood. Please get me back out, it's dark and scary... It's not been a good day. Typical Wednesday, they're usually not very good. It's just the getting through them that keeps me going. Just getting to Thursday, because then it's practically Friday and I'm one girl who worships Fridays. Why am I not a fan of Wednesdays you may ask? Well Wednesdays are my co-teacher's days off. This means they stick me with a "sub-type" who either knows how I handle my class or doesn't...it's hit or miss. One I love dearly, unfortunately, he's not with me today. So, my kids have been insane, not listening to anything anyone has to say to them. Now, this is to be expected on occasion. They're young. But this Wednesday also marks day 12 I've been stuck with this head cold turned sinus infection turned death. And I'm pretty much miserable. So bear with me... 

Back to this tragic hole. Can I please go back to 21 again? You may laugh and say, it really wasn't that long ago...but in my life at its present state, 21 seems ages ago. I feel like I live from weekend to weekend. Soaking up whatever I can and then it's back to the grind Monday morning.

I love my job. I really do. But work is work. Truth be told, none of us want to do it. Ever. It interferes with me taking off and seeing my favorite people whenever I so desire. It interferes with me being lazy and not getting of the couch for hours on end, watching re-run marathons of America's Next Top Model or Law & Order. It interferes with my shopping sprees and expenditures on items or clothing I don't really need, but were just too cute to pass up. Okay, maybe that last one is a good thing, because let's face it, I'm already broke.. but that's not the point. The point is this: Is this what my life is destined to be for 60+ more years?

Work, weekend, work, weekend, work.....

How depressing.

Just a bad day I suppose. A "case of the Mondays" on a Wednesday afternoon. I just miss my friends I guess.. Ready for everything to feel normal again and I'm afraid it's never going to.. How do you return to normal if you're not sure what normal is supposed to be now?

God help me. I sound like Dr. Phil. ha.

I suppose I should be counting my blessings. It could always be worse. After all, I could be the parent of one of these hellions...

Not. Even. Funny.