...because if it weren't for those individuals (in that order) I'd be suffering the next couple of months with no days off work.

This past Monday Yom Kippur gave me a wonderful three-day weekend where I did NOTHING, this coming Monday Columbus, AKA Exterminator of the Tainos, is giving me the day off, the Pilgrims shower me with love for Thanksgiving, and the "birth" of Jesus on the 25th is giving me a nice week off in December. Were it not for these days off I'd shoot myself in the head.

My kids have been driving me insane. Last week was a pretty bad week and I left on Friday not sure if I even wanted to go back. The three-day weekend helped recharge me and this week has been much better. I haven't had to correct their behavior so much and they have finally begun to take me seriously when I threaten their grades.

We were warned today about certain gang behavior that our kids may be trying to adopt and that we should try to nip in the bud. I looked at some of the symbols associated with a certain gang and realized that one of my students has been drawing this symbol on every single poster he has created for class. I always thought he was really creative and artistic. Now I realize that he's been "advertising" his gang since day one. I now have to go and take down every single piece of work he's created and have a talk with him. I also have to keep an eye on other students to make sure they're not practicing hand gestures, not wearing gang colors, and not saying certain key phrases.

Who the hell signs up for this?