Pet peeve week from the menopause mama.

Today's gripe:  grocery baggers.  Really, does it take a college degree to realize you don't put cans of tomatoes on top of the tomatoes themselves?

When I was a kid, baggers NEVER put cleaning products in the same bag as any food product.  Now, they just throw the stuff in the bag.

Is the problem that these young baggers don't actually put groceries away at home thereby being oblivious to the havoc they create?  Do they not spend any of their money on groceries to know that ruined stuff sucks?

Back in the day, real people worked in the grocery stores.  They were there day after day, year after year.  They build their careers there; paid rent and took care of their families.  Mrs. Lau and Mrs. Sabel worked at the local Grand Union -- they were it.  They knew their job and they did it well.  Now it's young people who don't know an artichoke from an avocado who work in these stores until a better, more prestigious job comes along.

We need to take pride in the work we do and stop just showing up for a paycheck.

America is over-coddling its children and will pay eventually.  I cannot believe how many parents contact me because they want me to give their children a retest.  Don't get me wrong, after 7 years of teaching Latin, I recognize the value of giving kids a second chance.  But I don't believe that students should take a retest on material that is straight forward.  I gave a matching quiz a couple weeks ago.  My students admitted that they did not study.  Their scores show it, too.  Still, they are looking for a second chance.

I think this business of giving so many chances is hurting a student's work ethic too.  I have students who are failing my class.  They do no work and beg for mercy.  On the rare chance that I give mercy, they turn around and screw up again by not doing the next assignment.  In Clark County, the middle schools are instructed to give students retakes.  Further, they are allowed to submit late work all quarter.  What are we teaching kids with this?  I receive these students in high school and they are far from prepared to face the challenges of the class because they didn't really master the correct behavior.

Often I hear that students have an A in every other class.  So.  In my class, where work actually means something, poor behavior and failure to do work equal poor grades.  I write kids up to be ineligible for their sport.  No extra credit.  If they didn't bother with the assignment in the first place, why should I have to design yet another assignment to help these lazy beasts?

Teaching is getting more tiring every year.  I suspect this culture of hovering parents is playing a role.  I wonder if these same parents are the reason the US is not doing well in comparison to other countries educationally speaking.

Just a thought.

Being far from home has its obvious problems, but the biggest one is not being able to be with friends when they need it most.

As I approach 50 I guess my friends will begin to lose their parents.  It's sad.  We move through life thinking we've got it under control, then a death occurs and suddenly it throws you back some years.  At least that's how it feels now.  My dear friend Gretchen lost her father today.  It was sudden.  In some respects, that's easier to swallow.  He died in peace and pain free.  But the family is left with what's behind.  When you consider that the family dynamics are not the greatest, the stress of grief can tug at the seams of the family structure.

Gretchen, seemingly the weak link -- unmarried with two children and struggling to make ends meet in Manhattan, has stepped forward and shown her leadership skills.  She has clarity of purpose that would make her father proud.

We show who we are, not on a daily basis, but when the chips are down and it's either sink or swim.  I am saddened that my friend has lost a father.  But in so doing, she seems to have found her voice.  So, my prayers to the Schell family.

I did something today that I rarely do -- took a nap. I came home from work and wanted to get some stuff done but felt beat. Frankly, I have been feeling very tired every day when I come home from work. Since I have nothing else going on here, I slept. For about an hour and a half. Gosh, that felt good. Even better? I feel tired now and it's only about 9PM.

Sleep is a difficult thing to get. We all feel as though we need more, but where can we find it? The older I get the more my sleep patterns tend to stay in holding. So, even if I go to bed late, I still arise early. Bottom line, I don't necessarily catch up on missed sleep. It's for that reason that I'm glad I napped. (Earlier this week I went to bed at 8:30 PM)

When I go home for the Ben Harper concert on Oct. 1st I will arrive at 12:30 am (9:30 PST). Poor Rod will be out getting me and he won't be able to catch up on his sleep. Now he is a guy who really has definite sleep patterns. Even when we were driving across the country, in different time zone, and no schedule to speak of, Rod got up early every day.

I hope I find a "clock" soon. Perhaps, because I am so unsettled and feel bored in my apartment I am feeling tired more easily. I know that the job itself, while difficult to get back into the groove, is not too bad. The students do what I tell them to do and for the most part are respectful. This is a much better experience than the one I had last year. Still, I feel stress because I am moving soon and am still waiting for my car to arrive from NY -- actually, I am still waiting for it to ship from NY.

Word has it that the neighborhood where I'm moving is wonderful. The leasing agent told me all about the Y nearby, but I didn't really give it much thought. Until today when the librarian at my school was raving about it and the library that's near my new apartment. So, I guess things will feel much better when I leave this place that constantly reminds me of the horror-that-was-last-year.

And, of course, I hope I will feel a little more awake.

Happy Labor Day weekend.

I hate being a technology dunce. There is so much I want to do for my students, but I am stuck with my limited knowledge of how to build something as supposedly simple as a powerpoint. What's worse is that even though I printed instructions, they were absolutely no help at all. I really learn best by watching, doing and taking very meticulous notes.

Sure, I suppose some would think I should just find another means of getting the information across, but the truth of the matter is that I feel hampered by my own inability to get a good job done. I am grateful that where I work there will be classes offered -- for free if I don't need or want the credit -- on powerpoint, excel and word. I desperately need this help. It's just around the corner. But, I have a lesson I am dying to teach.

I don't know why I'm this slow. I want to be able to do these things, but I have never really learned. To make matters worse, I lived in a household with a kid who definitely knew how to do these things. Why didn't I ever tap into that source? Oh well, live and learn.

I suppose this is the week I need to make a decision regarding whether or not I return to Las Vegas. As a result, I can feel myself getting more depressed. To an outsider, the decision would be easy: you're depressed, stay home. But, I have a husband who makes not a lot of money. If I were to stay here, we would have enough to pay the bills that are attached to this house, but not enough to pay the added costs that I amassed as a result of my move last year.

I wait to hear from the two jobs I interviewed for last week. There is no guarantee that I got anything and that's the reason I am making arrangements -- though tentative -- to return west. This sucks. And, although the city has lifted its hiring freeze, I have not had positive feelings from the interviews I've had in the city. The bottom line is I can't count those eggs. Last week was the first time I was interviewed by a NYC principal who actually looked me in the eye. Really, things are not rosy here.

So my stomach continues to have butterflies.

It's that time of year when school supplies are flooding the shelves and we need to stock up.

It's also the time of year when I question whether or not I need to purchase everything on the list. To begin, Tyler needs a binder for each of five classes. Five binders??? That is quite a bit to fit into a backpack for homework, isn't it?

I honestly don't know what to do this year. My child lacks the organization needed to juggle and correctly bring home five binders. I feel like this may be a recipe for disaster. On the other hand, am I causing problems for him by NOT getting the necessary materials?

I guess my biggest beef is that when I do purchase the list of supplies, at the end of the year Tyler comes home with unused notebooks and such. Why?

We'll see what happens.