Lots of excitement in the world of MDawg

Let's see . . . . where do I start?

Busy week. Had a ton of meetings and lots of late nights at school this past week. School Council meeting, parent conferences, National Honor Society Induction Ceremony, etc.

The best part of my week: I come home after a long day at work to find the common hallway of my condo building flooded - with sewage and water. In front of my door. Ugh. A drain was clogged and a plumber had to be called in to fix the problem.

Luckily, my unit only received minimal damage. And, the condo association needs to pay for the clean up and fix the pipes. They had to tear up the carpeting in the main hallway. And, I had to stay in a hotel one night (the association is paying for it). Ellie the Cat had to be moved out for a day too.

The smell has been lovely to say the least. :-(

The good news: had all my rugs professionally cleaned and I didn't have to pay for it. Bad news: won't know until the summer on a hot day how "clean" my place really will be . . . .

Oh, and I didn't miss any school because of this drama. I've been getting pulled out of classes for mandated training a lot this month so I really couldn't afford to lose a day of curriculum.

The joy of teaching to a test - thanks No Child Left Behind!

Etc, etc, etc. . . . . .

It's been a productive yet insanely busy few weeks in the life of M-Dawg.

Where do I begin?

*Volleyball season officially ended on Friday with a rematch for varsity against our rival. We won! Life will settle down a bit for a while. No more riding on a school bus with 40 screaming teenage girls trying to sing the Barney song at the top of their lungs. Are you not just so jealous of me as you read this?

*Had a fund raiser for Harvard Model Congress on Saturday. A local business donates their parking lot to our school to charge tourists during the month of October that are visiting our lovely city. We made $880! All money raised will deter the costs of the conference over Feb break. It was a little chilly on Saturday - I sat outside 8-5 all day. I was so numb that I thought my fingers would break off.

*Still enjoying having my weekends off. I'm still doing stuff on the weekends - like proctoring SAT's or doing fund raising stuff for my groups that I advise but it's different. I'm not stressing out about it or getting annoyed which is a good thing.

*My former roommate from a few years ago is living with me until Jan 1st. She's looking for a place to live permanently. She sold her house to her son and daughter-in-law. Today, we went looking at places and I think she found a place that she likes and is reasonably priced.

*I signed up for a local history seminar on Wednesday that I'm excited about and they are paying $125! Bonus!

*The ecomony is soooo depressing . . . how's everyone holding up?

*Wish I had some news on the love front. If anyone has any suggestions on how to meet a nice guy, let me know.

OK, that's about it for updates. I somewhat have limited of computer access since my roommate is using the second bedroom (my computer is located in that room).

Update on life

Just wanted to do an update on what is going on in M-Dawg's world (warning - VERY negative post!):

*I didn't get the teaching position at my first school. I received the phone call last night. The assistant principal (I'm friends with him) wanted to tell me over the phone instead of waiting for the letter. I'm upset and disappointed. For five years, all I've heard from administrators and other teachers was how they wanted me to come back. Nice.

*Survived the Sophomore Social (dance) for my class. My co-advisor and I have decided that we will resign at the end of the school year from being their class advisor. The officers do absolutely nothing and we are not paid enough to deal with the stress and bullshit.

*My classroom is currently in a modular trailer. I've been in the trailer for 1 1/2 year. The entire freshman house is moving out the trailers over April break. I filled out my request form over a month ago for boxes and moving supplies. When do I get my supplies and boxes: a week ago! I have a ton of shit to pack. Luckily, I have student leaders and a colleague of mine helped me pack most of it. It will be nice to be back in the main building again. Strange. They are moving us to a temporary classroom until June. Then they will move us to our permanent home which will be up on the third floor. I won't be unpacking anything except for two boxes of stuff I need to get me through the rest of the school year.

*My shoulder is still painful. I have an appt next week with an orthopedic surgeon.

*Good news: I'm on April break starting on Monday. A whole week off from school. I do have a busy week filled with appointments and working at Paws.

*I really need a break from school. I'm in such a bad mind set right now. Very negative and burnt out. Exhausted from working all the time and getting no financial rewards. And very poor! :-(

*And the best part of my life right now: my first mortgage is going up $250 a month. Got the letter last week notifying me of the increase. They won't even talk to me since I'm still paying my mortgage on time. Nice! I have two mortgages and the second one will go up too. I can't refinance since I owe more on my condo than it's worth right now. So, I'm screwed. Gotta love life. When you are down, you are DOWN! I am looking for a roommate to help defer the costs. If you know of anyone, let me know. I'm also posting an ad on Craig's List.

This is my life. Shitty right now. I think I need to go back into counseling again. I'm really having a hard time dealing with stuff. My personal life sucks. My professional life sucks. Trying to focus on what is good in my life and I just can't seem to do it.

End of vent/bitch/losing mind session. :-(

You really didn't need that second parking space, did ya M-Dawg?

When I bought my condo almost three years ago, it came with two parking spaces. I hemmed and hawed about whether or not I should sell the second space but I decided to keep the second space for the value that it might add when I go to sell the condo later on.

I currently rent out the second parking space to a couple on the other side of the building because their unit only came with one parking spot and they have two cars.

Tonight, I come home to find a garbage dumpster IN THE MIDDLE OF MY PARKING SPACE!!! And, five poles have been installed into the pavement to put up fencing around the dumpster. Nice!

So my concern in the beginning of this drama was the couple and where would they park their car? I called them and left a message explaining to them I don't know what is going on and when I find something out, I'll let them know. And then my concern was that this is MY PROPERTY and I PAY TAXES on it. The fact that my condo association never notified me started to piss me off.

Since we are run by an association, we don't have any contact info except an emergency pager number and email address. So, I contacted both to ask what was the deal? I have yet to get a response from either.

Meanwhile, the couple that rents my parking spot called me to tell them THEY were called today at work to let them know that the parking spot had been relocated and they still have a parking space. Nice. No phone call to me. I still have no idea where they moved the space. From what the couple told it's a temporary space until they (the association) can figure where to move the space permanently.

And the best part of the story: If there was any mentioning of this type of thing in the condo documents - I would have no clue. Why? Because I don't have the condo docs. I've been emailing the association since I moved in here almost three years ago and they keep promising they would get me a copy. I'm still waiting. The documents would have any restrictions, rules, fines, property info, etc. on not only my condo but whole building and grounds.

I'm so mad right now. Apparently, I'm asking too much from my association. Good thing I pay condo dues, heh?