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I'm glad to hear Aaron got a new job! That's fantastic news. And I'm so sorry to hear about the kitty. I have a 15 year old dog who is literally day-to-day. Somedays she is okay, walking around and eating. Then there's other days where she is limping and gasping for breath... it's just awful. We really thought we were going to have to put her to sleep a few months ago but she bounced back. Now she's struggling again and we're really unsure about what to do. We're giving her baby aspirin every day because she has such a bad hip that it causes her to limp significantly. This is my first true experience with watching a family pet end their life cycle and it's not at all easy.

On another note, I'm concerned about job security. I don't know if I ever really told anyone here about what I do, so I'll tell you now. I work at a high school radio station that has a huge listenership throughout northeast Indiana. People don't believe us when they call the station and we tell them that it's a high school station. Because it's run so well by my boss (the station manager and radio teacher for the school) and me, they just assume it's like any other station. I'm the chief operator, music director, and program director for the station, as well as my boss' assistant (in other words, I'm a teacher's aid). Anyway, I've worked at the station since I was a junior in high school (which ends up being about 6 years). In the entire school corporation, I know the most about the station and could tell you practically anything you wanted to know about it. Well, thanks to this horrible economy, the school corporation is desperate to save money. They've sent out numerous e-mails asking all staff for ideas on how to budget cut. I don't think I'm in much danger but there's still that chance that they'll see my position and say, "What does she do that really benefits the school corp and is she worth it?" They're talking about cutting at least 10 jobs just in the high school alone, and that includes not only classified (the faculty that is not licensed to be teachers) but certified as well (the teaching staff). There's already been cuts made at area schools. In fact, just today the largest school corporation in the area announced it was cutting 49 teaching positions. I don't think that includes the non-licensed staff, which I'm sure some of them are being cut as well. On top of that, the state education board announced that all Indiana schools would have to make up all 180 days of schools, no matter what... and yet they've cut funding to the schools by an insane amount, despite our governor, Mitch Daniels, telling us that he'll devote even more money to education (as usual, he shows how two-faced he is). I know schools are supposed to receive money from the stimulus package, too, but even that is moving RIDICULOUSLY slow and nobody really knows anything at all about it in terms of how much each school system will get (or if they'll get any at all). Again, I really haven't heard anything in terms of my job personally but I just know that when they look at the overall budget and see little old me in my office, they'll at the very least question it. On the upside of all this is the fact that I have my boss behind me 110%, as well as a number of other staff here at the high school and throughout the corporation who love the station and everything I do for it. As my boss told me today, "You are irreplaceable and if they eliminate your job, then they'll never hear the end of it because I don't want to take over everything you do. Running the station is absolutely a two-person job, and it has been that way for over 20 years (since the station began)." At least she's behind me! That definitely calms my nervousness a bit.

This brings up another topic that really hits too close to home for me, which is the way teachers are treated in this day and age. The fact that public education is being forced to make these kinds of cuts is absolutely unacceptable. It's PUBLIC EDUCATION; they should NOT have any problem finding money to fund its staff. Teachers don't get paid enough for the crap they put up with anyway, and for them to be a casualty of this economy while still having to put up with the crap that they do truly blows my mind. I see how my boss is treated and it makes me think twice about pursuing a teaching license (like I have been for 2 years now). In fact, my education professors tell us every chance they get that it is a RARE thing to have new teachers last beyond their first two years, and it's even more rare for new teachers to remain in the profession for five years. How sad is that?!

I'm sorry for the novel, but as you can probably tell, I feel very strongly about this. Thanks for letting me vent, guys. haha