She was pretty clear this was pretty much an extraordinary choice. She had 3 kids! CRAZY.

It doesn't make anyone an asshole to not choose that. I wasn't trying to imply that was a viable option- just the parallels to FNL's scripts had me agape.

Pretty much every one of our ministry partners or other missionaries in the area is raising a kid. Adoption to non-Native parents isn't legal, so none of them are actual adoptions.

I seriously respect that kind of dedication but I have some severe doubts as to whether or not we could do it ourselves. I mean, we're not parents biologically already because of reasons.

since I did not see all of FNL my mind's idea of totally pulling a Riggins is only gonna work if Tammy's recently dumped younger sister comes to live with them. And she looks a lot like me. IJS.

Jamaica has a lot of cross-family parenting. And inter-family. But it's a small, third world. A very different one.

I've been doing all sorts of poking around provocateuse, trying to make the best use of what I've got (i'm lazy, lazy, lazy). Can you imagine--the domain velvetedge.com is for sale? Sure, no one has bought it, but someone thinks there's a demand for a domain name I made up. And I just let it lapse. Seeing as I'm never letting go of thevelvetedge.com, I'm kinda wondering--could I have made $50 on that one? I'm tempted to ask for a quote, but if they're claiming it's really valuable, I will shoot something.

Anyway, I'm checking the bandwidth the provocateuse sites use. And it's not what I thought. Leaving out beards, skirts, and silverfoxes, because they're the runts of the litter, which site would you think is at the top, and which at the bottom?

• barefoot
• bestof
• handson
• spectacle
• venus
• wetmen

I seriously respect that kind of dedication but I have some severe doubts as to whether or not we could do it ourselves.

I don't know about ministry, but from an education perspective it's just... too much. I think of it as the Freedom-Writers-Diarification of education. Like if I'm not willing to take an extra job so I can by stuff for my students I must not care enough. There is a weird backwards entitlement within the community I work, like being a teacher automatically means I should be selfless, especially in a climate that is super toxic around education. If I'm not willing to supply my students with pens and tissues and paper, then I'm not doing my job. If I'm not willing to be at school for an extra 3 hours, it's because I don't teach well.

This is, in some ways, is a result of or part of the charter movement. That is a True Believer group who is willing to forego higher wages for longer hours. Fifteen years ago, I could live, eat and sleep my work in the classroom, but now, not so much and I look at that and think it's a little unhealthy.

(Also, while I'm on it, there is only questionable research, Apollo 20 aside, that longer hours matter. What seems to matter according to international data is more days. Believe it or not at 1080 hours, ours is one of the systems with the most hours. But we don't do things well enough with them. The systems that have 220+ days but only 600 hours fare better than ours on standardized testing. Longer hours in our system often just means more of the same. Instead of more of the same, how about more enrichment, more music, more art?)

I mean, we're not parents biologically already because of reasons.

Yet you're still doing a lionshare of parenting.

barefoot at the top.

Like if I'm not willing to take an extra job so I can by stuff for my students I must not care enough. There is a weird backwards entitlement within the community I work, like being a teacher automatically means I should be selfless, especially in a climate that is super toxic around education. If I'm not willing to supply my students with pens and tissues and paper, then I'm not doing my job. If I'm not willing to be at school for an extra 3 hours, it's because I don't teach well.

This, a thousand times this. I blogged at one point about the danger of the "noble teacher" myth. It really bothers me.

barefoot or hands - why is wet not on that list - cause that is too easy?

Heh.

So I think I'm gonna clean out my neighbor's fridge tomorrow. See, Brian told me he'd heard from her and her housesitter had discovered power was out to the fridge recently (she's been gone almost 3 weeks, but I saw the housesitter with lights in the kitchen this weekend.) Anyway, we ventured over there (I have a key) to make sure it wasn't a breaker. No. But no power to the basement and most of the kitchen. No gfis popped. And then I checked and had a text from her asking about power from Monday night.

So. She comes back sunday and the idea of coming back to rotting fridge and freezer makes me want to cry, so I think I'm taking some trash bags and my resp mask and bleach, vinegar and baking soda (not mixed) over tomorrow. Call me crazy, but it seems like the least of things.

omg has there been a noble teacher meets the magical negro and they fall in love movie - there has to be.