there are 3 times in my life when i deliberately voted against my political party. last year, when i voted for mccain, and the 2 times i voted for our state's governor.
i have always had reservations about "slick eddy". there is just something about him that gives me the willies. nevertheless, someone out there liked him, hence why he got elected and reelected. i'm trying to think of something that he has actually done for the good of our state, but right now i'm drawing a blank.
anyway, slick eddy opened his big yap monday and announced that in addition to consolidating school districts in our state, to save money, they would also close the intermediate units. my husband works at an IU. if his shuts down, he'll be jobless. and since i don't have a job, that would really really suck. with the babies on the way, and house, car and credit card debt, we're fucked.
anyway, hubby heard the news on the office grapevine, and naturally came home in a foul mood becos of it. he initially didn't want to tell me, for fear of hurting the babies, but he blurted the news out when i asked him why he had a bad day. it was also the first time hubby (the staunch republican) commented that the governor made obama look like a saint, since he's at least very supportive of education. the news turned my blood to ice. i bawled, i obsessed, i worried. how were we going to pay for our expenses, let alone our debts? how could we raise 3 kids with no income? hubby got angry, he was afraid the news would hurt the babies. i was okay, but i felt frantic. and i prayed like crazy. i tried to think of the great depression, where so many lost their jobs and went without. mentally i canceled services in my head, services that are so convenient to us, but really unnecessary.
later that night hubby did some internet digging. apparently slick eddy made these comments at a convention. hubby also rationalized that the IUs are state mandated, therefore they cannot be closed without the legislature agreeing to it. secondly, the state legislature - both democrats and republicans - were against the closings. furthermore, if they were going to be closed, hubby guessed it would take months or years to complete the process, and by then he could find another job, i could find a job and hopefully the economy would be on the mend.
yesterday hubby went to work. i called him around lunchtime and he said while he kept his ear to the ground, he hadn't heard anything more about the story. and in fact, he was called into an exec meeting where there was discussion about expanding hubby's services. hubby figured if they were going to request more services from his division, then things were going to be okay after all. he also reminded me that several IUs and school districts purchase services from his IU, so if anything drastic might happen, smaller IUs could be consolidated, and his actually absorb the business of the others.
we could finally sigh some relief, but it was a truly scary time. i cannot fathom what it is like for people to lose their jobs in a wink. i mean, i lost my fair share of jobs and it was awful, but at least we had hubby's income to fall back on, and i immediately searched and got hired for new jobs. this time, i'm 5 months pregnant and likely have zero chance of someone wanting to hire me in such condition. and if/when i do get a job after the twins are born, i have to look at alternative child care. it's something i never planned on. i always thought we'd have hubby's job - it's pretty secure. it's scary how in a blink of an eye, you can lose it all.
it also gave me pause on how lucky we are to have the educational system we have. i grumble about NCLB and worry about the boy getting the very best education, but we are lucky to have ANY decent kind of education. hubby told me another congressman/senator wanted to get rid of early childhood education. WTF? head start and early intervention are integral to maintaining the current educational system. those services are in place for families who otherwise couldn't afford to send their child to preschool, or for families where their child may have special needs. if those services go, the entire educational system in PA will collapse. where the hell is this guy's head? i'm sorry, but as much as i'm for mainstreaming kids with special needs, there will always be a need of special services for those kids who don't fit the mold. and ALL children are entitled to an early education, whether they are poor or have mental or physical difficulties.
the babies fared out okay through this turmoil. last night we went to the movies and out to eat to calm our jangled nerves. the babies moved around a lot during the movie (it was loud, it was hugh jackman). it comforting to know that through all that stress, the babies were okay.
i have always had reservations about "slick eddy". there is just something about him that gives me the willies. nevertheless, someone out there liked him, hence why he got elected and reelected. i'm trying to think of something that he has actually done for the good of our state, but right now i'm drawing a blank.
anyway, slick eddy opened his big yap monday and announced that in addition to consolidating school districts in our state, to save money, they would also close the intermediate units. my husband works at an IU. if his shuts down, he'll be jobless. and since i don't have a job, that would really really suck. with the babies on the way, and house, car and credit card debt, we're fucked.
anyway, hubby heard the news on the office grapevine, and naturally came home in a foul mood becos of it. he initially didn't want to tell me, for fear of hurting the babies, but he blurted the news out when i asked him why he had a bad day. it was also the first time hubby (the staunch republican) commented that the governor made obama look like a saint, since he's at least very supportive of education. the news turned my blood to ice. i bawled, i obsessed, i worried. how were we going to pay for our expenses, let alone our debts? how could we raise 3 kids with no income? hubby got angry, he was afraid the news would hurt the babies. i was okay, but i felt frantic. and i prayed like crazy. i tried to think of the great depression, where so many lost their jobs and went without. mentally i canceled services in my head, services that are so convenient to us, but really unnecessary.
later that night hubby did some internet digging. apparently slick eddy made these comments at a convention. hubby also rationalized that the IUs are state mandated, therefore they cannot be closed without the legislature agreeing to it. secondly, the state legislature - both democrats and republicans - were against the closings. furthermore, if they were going to be closed, hubby guessed it would take months or years to complete the process, and by then he could find another job, i could find a job and hopefully the economy would be on the mend.
yesterday hubby went to work. i called him around lunchtime and he said while he kept his ear to the ground, he hadn't heard anything more about the story. and in fact, he was called into an exec meeting where there was discussion about expanding hubby's services. hubby figured if they were going to request more services from his division, then things were going to be okay after all. he also reminded me that several IUs and school districts purchase services from his IU, so if anything drastic might happen, smaller IUs could be consolidated, and his actually absorb the business of the others.
we could finally sigh some relief, but it was a truly scary time. i cannot fathom what it is like for people to lose their jobs in a wink. i mean, i lost my fair share of jobs and it was awful, but at least we had hubby's income to fall back on, and i immediately searched and got hired for new jobs. this time, i'm 5 months pregnant and likely have zero chance of someone wanting to hire me in such condition. and if/when i do get a job after the twins are born, i have to look at alternative child care. it's something i never planned on. i always thought we'd have hubby's job - it's pretty secure. it's scary how in a blink of an eye, you can lose it all.
it also gave me pause on how lucky we are to have the educational system we have. i grumble about NCLB and worry about the boy getting the very best education, but we are lucky to have ANY decent kind of education. hubby told me another congressman/senator wanted to get rid of early childhood education. WTF? head start and early intervention are integral to maintaining the current educational system. those services are in place for families who otherwise couldn't afford to send their child to preschool, or for families where their child may have special needs. if those services go, the entire educational system in PA will collapse. where the hell is this guy's head? i'm sorry, but as much as i'm for mainstreaming kids with special needs, there will always be a need of special services for those kids who don't fit the mold. and ALL children are entitled to an early education, whether they are poor or have mental or physical difficulties.
the babies fared out okay through this turmoil. last night we went to the movies and out to eat to calm our jangled nerves. the babies moved around a lot during the movie (it was loud, it was hugh jackman). it comforting to know that through all that stress, the babies were okay.
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