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What's Bleak this Week

June 1st, 2012 at 04:32 pm

My family and I lost some friends on Wednesday at one of our hangouts. At the other coffee hangout I would see an elderly man and chat with him, and come away happier or more filled with knowledge from the experience: that man is the father of the person who killed my friends. I hurt, but not as much as the family and best friends and fans of the dead, the man whose jaw, lung and armpit were shot, the cafe owner whom I have known and rode scooters with for years, and the elderly man who could do nothing but tried everything to prevent this from happening.

I paid $756 of our credit card bill. DH bought a laptop. Since August 1 I have paid $10225 principal of mortgage debt.

DH finally fixed his tax withholding so we are living on 6% less cash. This doesn't wreck me, but wherever we land next I will most definitely start working. And no more skimping for eight-ten weeks to come up with tax money.

I am going out of town for a few days. This was planned before the shootings and I need some time away from home. My friend is paying for the hotel, we are going dutch on food, and I am paying for my transportation there, back and around. I don't intend to be too frugal: I need sleepwear, would like some books at one of the largest brick-and-mortar bookstores in the country.

I still dislike my son's school. It employs an evaluation tool for teachers from the Northwest Evaluation Association which is very uneven and unreliable: my kid has scored from 60 percentile for his grade to, I kid you not, off the charts in the same subject. This tells me nothing. Nobody tells me anything, very few read my sentences, most interrupt or talk over me. I am waiting for education professionals to tell me how these behaviors and actions foster trust and communication and cooperation between parents and teaching staff. I do not put forward anything to the staff that is not evidence-based or documented or undiscussed with my in-laws, with a half-century of teaching experience between them.

My state really sucks for education and funding for public health. Do not move here.

10 Responses to “What's Bleak this Week”

  1. CB in the City Says:
    1338565014

    Are you saying someone murdered your friends? Or was it an accident?

    I'm very sorry for your loss.

  2. PauletteGoddard Says:
    1338565135

    @CB in the City: It was murder. Two guns. Seven rounds fired at the cafe, then the shooter went downtown to murder a woman so he could use her car for awhile.

  3. CB in the City Says:
    1338565789

    OMG, I heard about that on the news. I'm so sorry.

  4. My English Castle Says:
    1338568576

    Oh Paulette--I'm so sorry. It will be good to go away.

  5. Buckeye Says:
    1338568743

    I just buried my son on Saturday. Please hug and kiss your children over and over as you have no idea if it's the last time. For him it was a traffic fatality.

  6. PauletteGoddard Says:
    1338569080

    @Buckeye My heart goes out to you. Too many parents outlive their children. I can only imagine it must be the hardest experience a soul can endure.

  7. baselle Says:
    1338572760

    My heart goes out to you, Paulette. I know that cafe was one of your spots. When I heard that a woman was shot I feared the worst. Some call this spate of murders a statistic; but its 100% if it happens to you or close to you. The absolutely horrible thing is that many other US states suck even harder.

    Buckeye - I'm sorry for your loss.

  8. MonkeyMama Says:
    1338592818

    Verry sorry to read this. Frown

  9. Thrifty Ray Says:
    1338600370

    I thought about our Seattle SA friends when this hit the news and hoped everyone was ok...I am so sorry that this sad event has taken loved ones from you. I will never understand why some resort to this.

    {{hugs}}

    I hope you enjoy the getaway and get in some relaxing and reading and good girlfriend time.

  10. Shiela Says:
    1338614695

    Oh my goodness, that's terrible. So sorry for your loss.

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