( continues...)

and we all feel that it is essential that we meet in person rather than over the phone--I want to be able to talk face-to-face and to explain any questions you may have in person. [Principal] added that [School Name]'s policy is not to send home exams due to their sensitive nature, but to instead discuss them here at school.

I truly am not trying to put you off--I hope you know how very much I care about my students and how much I want them to succeed. [Student] is a wonderful girl whom I've enjoyed getting to know this year, and I am committed to helping her. I am so sorry that [Husband] is sick, and I also understand that you want to meet as soon as possible. I hope that there is a way that we can reach a happy compromise.

Thank you so much for your patience and understanding as we work through this situation.

Best, Kristin

I HAVE SPENT HOURS DEALING WITH THIS SHIT TODAY. IT'S A FUCKING 70, FOR CHRISSAKE!

Yikes. My parents were the "You got an A? Do they give out A+?" type, so that sort of back and forth is completely alien to me. Also, I think our interim grades didn't count for as much as they do over here. It's not like I had a GPA to maintain, or anything.

But that sounds like quite the travail, Kristin.

I have agave! And gluten-free flour and xanthan gum. I mocked Colin when he told me his GF baked with those things, but now I'm curious.

I'd intended to make gluten-free brownies tonight, and agave oatmeal bread tomorrow, but all bakage may be put off due to random headache.

Oy. Have to go back to the LAPL site. Not only was I a day too late to pick up my ILL, I had to pay a $1 fine for missing it. So I went into the new, crazy-houred, library to give them a dollar. Pfft.

The thing is? I'm not that teacher at all. (Not to say that you all think I'm beating kids in the closet, but this is a hot button for me.) I'm the teacher that kids come hang out with during lunch. I'm the teacher that sends flowers to her kids in the hospital and gives anyone with a reasonable excuse a reasonable extension. I bend over backwards to make my students feel valued, and I work my ass off to make every lesson and every paper a meaningful experience for them.

I know that. That's why I started my post with saying you're a great teacher. There are good and bad (and mostly mediocre) everythings -- doctors, lawyers, cops, mothers, teachers, scientists, street sweepers, priests, writers, actors, cooks, waiters -- you name it.

I just couldn't get over the parent having the nerve to protest a test score. I'm always so much, "Oh, well," about it on the outside (even when, on the inside, I feel like something was unfair -- because life is unfair, and that's a part of learning, too).

I have agave! And gluten-free flour and xanthan gum. I mocked Colin when he told me his GF baked with those things, but now I'm curious.

I saw Colin in a Lifetime Movie that TiVo grabbed, this week. It might be the first Lifetime Movie I've ever watched. He was adorable and did not get the girl, which suprised me, but made the story better than I'd prejudged Lifetime movies in my mind.

Thanks. Cindy, I know you didn't think that.

I'm just saying that given how many crap teachers there are out there, why is this parent giving me such a hard time? WTF does she expect to gain from having a COPY of the damn thing? Is she going to take it to another teacher and get a second opinion or something? Isn't it more important that the student review it with me? It all comes down to living in a society where everything is negotiable, even a grade.

I think it's just that you've destroyed her self-esteem.

Everyone gets a trophy, an A for just showing up, a brownie, and a hug.

Every child is special, and every special child deserves an A.

You are really explaining the situation well, Kristin. I hope a lightbulb goes off in the parents head when they read that.

I tried to avoid Xanthan Gum for some crackpot reason at one point. That stuff is in everything! It's, apparently, magic. It thickens sauces and browns roasts and washes up your pots, from what I understand.

I need a device that will charge my phone while it's in my purse. I use the phone so infrequently that the dribble of charge it loses keeping it's little green light lit drains it in between times I think to look at it, so everytime I know I'll want it, it needs charging. Unfortunately, I rarely think of that until just before I'll need it, if that far in advance. I'm waiting for it to charge right now, so I can be sure I'll actually get the call when DH gets to the station before we go to a play tonight.

It's a liberal interpretation of "need", I realize.

Some people are always crazy.

I just turned on Survivor for the first time in years, and what is with these people's names? Dreams, Rocky, Boo? I feel like I'm watching I Love New York.

OK, my local nbc affiliate is showing a documentary they produced on Maryland county in Liberia. Founded by (freed?) slaves who sailed from Fells Point. They are currently giving the history of the recent civil war. The news crew are the first media to visit in 30 years.

A few years back, there was another special on the Holocaust, and I think this may have been the same channel. It's...fascinating that local commercial media has done this. I'm not aware of many local affiliates doing this sort of thing.

1500 people living in an abandoned and derelict Intercontinental high rise hotel.