OK so I really don't have anything exciting to blog about, but I have got to get that goofy picture of me making a dork face off the top of the page. And the caption that says... Look how skinny I was... that was supposed to be Courtney-the-baby talking there... everyone got that, right? I wasn't saying that about myself because... no. Just no. Anyway... Moving on.
Soooo... Let's see. Courtney had a party here last night. I survived, all is well. We went boating Thursday night, had a nice time. Poor Courtney started a night class last week, so she is having to miss out on fun things this summer. Every time we plan something on a weeknight I feel bad, but I can't cancel plans for everyone, so I guess that's just part of the whole older teen stuff.
And in other exciting news, here are 3 things that I read about today that bug me:
*Everything is so bloody expensive. Magazines and newspapers write these inane articles on how to save money, and I know the articles will be stupid, yet I read them anyway in a desperate attempt to find the secret to escaping the grocery store without having to sell my firstborn or a kidney to pay the bill. So. The Parade magazine in the Sunday paper had a thing today telling you how America's thrifty families save money, and of course all of it was stupid stuff that either you already know and already do, or that you already know and don't do because it's lame. Some examples. They only let the kids buy Cocoa Crispies when they're on sale. Wow, I'm glad they wrote that in an article or I never would have figured out to buy stuff on sale. And side note. I don't let the kids buy Cocoa Crispies ever, because they're not healthy and they're nasty. Go me. And the mom, get this, shops for stuff on the clearance racks to save money! Who woulda thought? I read an article sitting in a waiting room the other day about how to save at the grocery store... here were their big tips: Try the store brand. Use coupons. Buy what's on sale. Really? Those are your big tips? Argh.
*Merit pay for teachers. They're bound and determined to do it, so fine. Let's do it. I do good work. If I meet the criteria, great, I'll get some extra cash. If I don't meet the criteria, fine, I'll still keep doing good work. The first problem I have with it is that I'm not confident that they'll find a good way to assess teachers. Test scores alone doesn't cut it. The second problem is that the proposals some districts are submitting involve spreading the money around to the whole school. No. In my opinion it should be a way to reward the teachers that go above and beyond and show marked improvement. Not just a way to give the A.P. and Honors teachers extra money because their kids test higher. Not just a way to give the whole school a few hundred extra dollars if test scores improve. On a related note, can we find a way to do merit pay for legislators? That would really make me happy.
*Gay marriage ammendment in CA. I don't live in CA. Therefore, I am so tired of reading about this in the newspaper. Look. Here's my opinion. Civil marriage is a contract extending legal rights to people, and it shouldn't be discriminatory based on race, gender, or sexual orientation. Aside from that, though, I have to laugh when I read these letters to the editor about how allowing gay people to marry will somehow devalue or degrade the institution of marriage. Um... us straight folks have done that all on our own. Gay people couldn't possibly mess it up any worse. My neighbor, a good upstanding LDS guy, has been married 3 times in the four years we've known him, and he had at least one other wife before we met him. But gay people are going to be the downfall of the institution of marriage? All I'm saying is they couldn't do any worse than the straight folks are.
