I hope that everyone had a nice holiday. My mine was good--very low key and pleasent. This is the first year that I can remember where there wasn't a major argument on either Thanksgiving or Christmas. I think that is probably because we are all on anti-depressants. I can't help but notice a correlation. If your family has lots of holiday arguments, I recommend prescription drugs as a solution. Though more expensive than the bottles of cheap wine we used to use to pacify ourselves, prescription drugs are better for you in the long run.

Currently listening to Television's "Marquee Moon" and drinking coffee. I forgot to mention this before now but I messed up my heel skating about 3 weeks ago and had to go to the doctor. They thought it could be a stress fracture but it ended up just being a bruise, anyway they weighed me at the doctor's office and I have gained 23 pounds. Yeah me!!! Now in case you are wondering this still only puts me up to 146 pounds. After my surgery and prolonged recovery I was down to 123 pounds. Being sick really sucks, but finally getting better and putting the weight back on feels really good.

I just realized that it is Friday the 13th. I will pay anyone $20 to go down to the high school I was just tutoring at, dressed in a flannel and a hockey mask while holding a machete and pretend to hack up the Assistant Principal (i.e. the guy who said I was late a few times when I wasn't). I wish I could call the school and simply say: 'Jackass, I am way too anal-retentive to ever be late.' I have worked at the restaurant for a year and I have been late once, and that was due to a major traffic accident. This is the exact same attendance pattern I have demonstrated at every position I have ever held.

Last night I received an email from my boss at the Turoring company. He said that he talked to the person in charge of the program at the actual school and that he was told I was late a few times. This is complete bullshit. I was never late. I just got done composing an email which I just sent to my boss regarding the issue, stating that as I signed in to the Visitor's log everyday at the exact time I arrived, the proof exists that I was never late. All I have to say is I deserve an apology, not that I am ever going to get one, but I deserve it. I don't think I am going to go back to the program next semster. The whole thing was incredibly disheartening, and he complains about me on top of it. I hate that bastard.

My tutoring assignment ended yesterday, and I just went and got tattooed to celebrate. Two nautical stars--one on the back of each arm (red and black,right above the elbow). Its been over a year since I got anything done, and I was not used to the pain at all. It still felt good, but the back of the arm is definitely more sensitive. I still almost fell asleep. Everytime I get a tattoo I almost fall asleep. One day I am going to go fully out. I went to a different artist than usual, his name is Josh Brown, and he works out of Absolute Art here in Richmond. A great guy and an excellent artist who specializes in 'Old School' designs. I am planning on getting a bunch of old school stuff so I tipped him big to help our relationship along. It will all come back to me. His price was a bit on the high side, but definitely worth it. It was $160 for both, excluding tip, which is high only because it only took an hour to do both. However he works really fast and the work is excellent, so he probably did 1 1/2 hours of high quality work in 1 hour's time. What I'm saying is it is totally worth it. When something is forever, cost becomes less of an issue. I probably shouldn't have spent the money, but I have had a really bad year, and not only do I feel I deserve it but it is sort of my Christmas present to myself. For those of you keeping track, I am now up to 11 tattoos for a total of approximately 9 hours of work. I am planning on getting something else sometime early next year. I already can't wait. When people used to tell me that tattoos were addictive, I thought they were crazy. Now I realize that they were 100% correct.

I also got a new, sweet Absolute Art t-shirt. They sold me the one off the wall because that was the only one left in a size small, now I get to wear something that was formerly decoration in my favorite tattoo shop. That is friggin' awesome.

I am incredibly tired. Working both jobs is quite the chore, it wouldn't be so bad if the jobs didn't have completely opposite schedules. Working till 10:30 PM at the restaurant and then getting up at 5:45 AM to make it to school on time is not an easy task. The worst part is that I feel as though I am making virtually no difference in the children's lives or education. Unfortunately the attendance policy is not enforced and as a result the vast majority of my students do not come to class and suffer no repercussions. I spend most of my time sitting in the library or the teachers lounge. For a school that is on the verge of losing its' accredidation and being run by the state, they could certainly put forth more of an effort to get these students to pass. The whole experience has been rather disheartening, but at the same time the money is nice and what little experience I have garnered has been much needed and useful. The best thing that has come out of this assignment is that I learned that I truly enjoy teaching, in fact I love it. I am very glad that I have finally found an occupation which leaves me feeling fulfilled and content. Supposedly this school is going to have a program similar to this one next semester, but I doubt their ability to get it off the ground. The administration here is preoccupied with so many things unrelated to the upcoming SOL examination re-takes that it is on the verge of being hysterical. I would cry about how poorly this program has been progressing, but it is easier to laugh and make notes in my files indicated where the responsibility truly lies. More than likely all of these students are going to fail the re-takes and there is nothing that anyone can do to stop it.

I registered for my first graduate class and bought my books too. It feels good to be on the right track.

The holidays were nice, and more importantly it was nice to have 3 consecutive days where I did not have to go to either job and was able to rest and relax. Well, since none of my students showed up for first period, I need to get back to sitting here in the library and reading. I used to use the time when none of my students came to class to do my lesson plans, but since I have yet to get past the first lesson plans I made--there is really no point. My only hope is that the administration is critical enough of themselves to realize that the blame for the scores these students are about to receive does not lie on my shoulders. I get the feeling that this is not the case, and that this will somehow come back to bite me in the ass. Oh, the joys of working in education.