Facie’s Ramblings

Here is what is on my noodle today, in no particular order:   Yes, the snow is pretty and all. And I won't even say that it would be fine with me if it does not snow again until December (except I just did). But I will say, I am done with excessive snow and the ensuing snow days that seem to keep on coming. And I am even more irritated that some schools want to get out of teaching 180 days. The kids need it, and I pay a lot for my kid's education besides. I read a somewhat disturbing but not too surprising article about how being laid off affects your health. I am really trying to be positive about my situation, and most of the time I am, but I can't help feeling a little down and of course worried sometimes. Not as worried as Brian, however, and we all know what worry can lead to. Speaking of health, which leads me to health insurance, is it any wonder that people ignore their health problems when they have little or crappy insurance? I was having some weird pa...

If you know me fairly well, you know that I am a pretty open person. I am sure I have said as much in this blog several times. But I don't share very intimate details here. As you may have noticed, while at my last job, I never really blogged about it. By the time I starting writing this blog, I was pretty content in that area. Not loving-my-job-every-single-day happy, but content enough to realize that I had it pretty good. But even if I had been miserable, I am quite certain you would not have read about it here; I just don't think that is a wise idea, for the mostly obvious reasons. Similarly, I don't write much about my marriage or any strife within my family. As with most relationships, Brian and I have had our ups and downs. But anytime we have gone through a big fight or struggled with a significant issue, those things have not made it here. My unwillingness to do so is not so much because I don't think it is anyone else's business. In fact, part of me wish...

As much as I wanted to write about something other than snow, I, once again, am penning some thoughts on those all-too-common white flakes around here. For the seventh time this year, Jordan's school has been canceled. On top of that, I think there have been two or three delays. In my opinion, there was no reason for today's cancellation. What makes it worse is that last night around 9, we received the automated call that there was a delay. I thought it might be a bit premature to announce that; we had received a few inches, but that was almost a daily occurrence lately (when it was not snowing several feet). Although I was disappointed that Jordan would be missing her first two classes yet again this week, I looked on the bright side that we would get to sleep in. This morning, just after 6:30, I was jolted awake by a ringing phone. The principal wanted to know if I could sub, and I readily (if not sleepily) agreed. Unfortunately, I became wide awake after that conversati...

At this point, I have no idea where all the snow is going to go. I don't think I am exaggerating when I say it will take weeks, surely a month, to melt. Especially if it keeps on snowing. I don't think it has stopped snowing for more than a day in the past six. Ugh! On top of that, I am a little frustrated that school is closed tomorrow (Friday), which we knew Wednesday night. Why not wait until Friday morning to make that call, or how about at least Thursday night? I was scheduled to sub, plus the kids were having their Valentine's parties, so not sure what will come about with either. Guess I did not need to brave the elements yesterday afternoon to go out and buy valentines for Jordan's class. Oh, well. Regardless, we don't live in MD or VA; shouldn't western PA be better equipped to handle all this snow? I guess I should quit my bellyaching and be glad that a plow has hit our street several times in the last few days, that our leak inside the LR window h...

Like everyone else who experienced the great snowfall this past weekend, I thought I would share a few pics. Growing up, I don't remember it snowing a lot at one time. I don't know if the schools had fewer delays or cancellations then, if I just don't remember them, or if it really did not snow that much. I do recall two snowstorms of my (more or less) adult life. One came at the end of spring break my senior year at PSU. I wrote about it in another post (though not so much about the snow). I also recall the next year, 1994, we got a ton of snow in January or February. I had just graduated from PSU in December, had no job prospects, and had recently broken up with my boyfriend. I spent most days in January crying and watching soaps. But I do recall during that snowstorm shoveling something like 20 inches off our large driveway with our neighbor while my mom was at work. I also remember eating almost an entire can of cheese spread after. Ah, memories! Fortunately this time...

Today teachers in the Penn Hills School District went on strike. I have followed the Pittsburgh Business Times Western PA Guide to the Schools since 2005. Unfortunately, since then, Penn Hills' rank has dropped from 91 to 98 out of 105 (ranking is based on PSAA scores). And since 2002, school taxes have increased 25 percent. I don't necessarily have a problem with increased taxes (even though I don't use public schools), when there is positive correlation. After all, we, as a community, should feel some responsibility for producing productive, educated citizens. But how can PH justify ever-increasing taxes when scores keep dropping? But, alas, it is never cut-and-dried. I have no doubt that most of the PH teachers work very hard, probably harder than most teachers in the "good" school districts, considering the number of PH students (and parents too, I bet) who really don't care about school and are discipline issues, as compared to those in more affluent ar...