another monday down...

stressful life situations here, especially at my school called barnard (where i am two days/week).
the principal, we think, maybe has some mental health issues going on...
i will describe:

okay, there have been so many problems between the teachers and this principal that we had a meeting set up with the union representative last wednesday. we had all known about the meeting for about three weeks and new and ridiculous things were being said by the principal each day. last wednesday my friends--the counselor, resource specialist, and nurse-- all witnessed the following altercation:

principal to secretary: arlene, i want you to go to the union meeting today and report back to me what the teachers are saying. (uh, by the way, TOTALLY illegal!!!)
secretary: (loudly) i'm not going to be your snitch!
principal: arlene, this really isn't the time or the place for this.
secretary: (even louder) no way! i'm not going to snitch on the teachers!!!
principal: this isn't the time or the place, arlene.
secretary: i'm not going to be your snitch! the teachers already feel like you talk down to them--that's why they're meeting with the union in the first place!
principal: that's it! i'm calling the police!

[WHAT??????]

[seriously, if you can't resolve a simple argument without calling the police, you have a huge problem]

so the principal dials the police and in the meantime the secretary calls her own union, who tells her to LEAVE the school. the police arrive as she is leaving and they escort her out.. the principal yells after her, "arlene, i want you to come back, just not today. you can come back tomorrow, just not today." the secretary yells, "whatever, mary!!!!" and leaves.

so this is the fun scene that i face every day now. if i disagree with my principal, do the police get summoned? and do i get escorted away in front of all my kids?
it is a very stressful place to go to. and the teachers (who are fantastic,by the way) are totally worn down and it's only november. and i'm finding out that we basically have a pretty powerless union, so that is sort of disheartening in addition to all of this.

so on a better note: the new pinback album is incredible.

and tomorrow is election day, so matt and i are doing our final research tonight. i love that he and i can vote for different people and it doesn't phase either of us. that's a perk of being not into politics, i must say.

matt and i refinanced our home on saturday! we were chatting about the particulars of 5-year fixed rates and so on and i said, "matt! we're talking about refinancing our home. we are GROWN UPS now!" such an odd feeling. in my head i am still only 22 years old. crazy that i'll be 29 in just a couple of weeks. and then 30 in a year. but like i was telling michelle yesterday, the closer i get to 30, the better i feel. you know (or maybe you don't): less insecure, more bold, less caring about what people think about me, more confident in who God made me, more realistic about ideals and expectations for life. yeah, i'm not crazy about the fine lines around my eyes, but they're worth it when i think about how much more settled i feel, mentally.

speaking of getting older, it's 8:00, is it too early for bed? :) but seriously, i'm so sleepy. must be the time change. so sad to see the sun setting at 5:15 today....

welp, i have three more days to get in shape for the muddy buddy!
so looking forward to that fun mud-slopping time!!!
bye bye everybody.