I finally did it! I finally broke through to the first 20-pound loss! It's never taken this long before, but better late than never.*
This week I lost 2.6 lbs, for a total of 22.3 lbs. gone in 9 weeks. I'm feeling pretty good about that!
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I didn't even face too many temptations this week. There were those little bags of plain M&Ms all over the table at our department chair meeting on Monday. (Chuck, are you trying to kill me?)
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You all know by now that M&Ms are my favorite candies. But I was strong.
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After school Friday we had a very stressful staff meeting. The kind you don't invite administrators to. *
The failing economy hit Arizona hard. Our state legislature decided to balance the budget by cutting education. Deep cuts.
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They hit us with a $33 million cut for the last 4 months of 2008-09.
It's going to be worse for 2009-10. Much worse.*
Right now the district proposes we all take a 5% salary cut. Plus 3-4 teachers and 11 staff (aides, secretaries, custodians) will be let go from the high school alone. Class sizes will go from about 35 to 45 or more students.
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Our district is administratively top-heavy. The state, the superintendent, and our principal have all said so openly. Yet there is no proposal to cut even one administrator.
This should give you some idea of the tone of this meeting. Everyone is afraid of losing their job or wondering how they can live on less money when they're barely making it on their current salary. Very emotional.*
So of course they served comfort foods: Texas sheet cake, pink-frosted cupcakes, and devil's food cake with whipped cream topping. Oh, I do love that Texas sheet cake!
But still I stood strong! I figure in this economy I'm going to need my health more than ever! Besides, who needs junk food when you can nervously nibble away all your fingernails during a meeting like this? *
I'm glad to say I never cheated this week. I only ate wholesome, nutrition-rich foods, and despite the stress, I feel good!
For those who may be wondering: my job is fairly safe. I've been with the district for 19 years and my evaluations are always good. And no matter how deep the cuts may be, Special Education isn't going away.*
I fall into the "How can I live on less money when I'm barely making it now" group. However, many of my good friends have been with the district less than 3 years and face the very real possibility of being one of the 3-4 teachers cut. They are understandably worried.
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The real victims, of course, will be the students whose quality of education will be severely impacted by these cuts.
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1 comment:
This is so sad, and so scary. How hard to have to cut back when prices just keep going up in the first place. And what is going to really become of the quality of the schools? At least your job sounds secure, so that is good, but what a worry about the pay cut!
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