so it's not just louisiana, then.

Hey guys, it's Katee, writing my once a year post apparently. I felt the need to share this little nugget of information with as many people as possible, and I figured this would be the place to do it.

Before I write anything, read this article:

Kindergarten teacher makes class vote special needs child out of classroom

Holy shit. Really?

You know, I thought I had it bad in school. I always had these bitchy, angry, menopausal teachers who hated me and made sure my life was a living hell, but at least none of them ever had my peers tell me exactly why they hated me and oh, hey, you should leave the classroom now because you're annoying. I don't know when kindergarten classes became a democracy, either. Call me old fashioned, but I was under the assumption that the responsible adult was the one in charge of what happens in the classroom, but I suppose you have to get all Lord of the Flies on us when a classroom lacks a responsible adult.

In my opinion, the proper punishment would be for the teacher to be placed in front of a crowd and have all the people who don't like her tell exactly what's wrong with her and why they hate her and see how this bitch feels. What kind of god-awful human being subjects a five-year-old kid to something like that? Kudos to the mom for keeping her cool, man. Had that woman admitted to me -- completely unashamed, mind you -- that she put my baby through something that awful, I'm pretty sure I would have punched her in the face.

And as for all the people arguing that one kid with special needs shouldn't disrupt learning for all the "normal" students: fuck you, dude. I'm willing to bet 99% of the people with this opinion are upper middle class douche bags who don't want their kids exposed to anything out of the ordinary. Let me let you in on a little secret, though. If your kid grew up being around a more diverse peer group the world would probably be a better place because they would be familiar with people who are, you know, different. Ignorance creates fear and fear creates prejudice, so the next time Johnny says, "This kid Bobby in my class in being loud and annoying and I think he's retarded," maybe it would be a better idea to sit him down and explain that "retarded" is not the proper term and that Bobby has feelings, too, rather than calling and complaining about your little boy being exposed to somebody who is different.

I don't know why the teacher thought this was appropriate, but I really and truly hope she is banned from working with kids ever again, and God forbid she ever have a child with any type of special needs. I shudder to think what she would do if her kid had autism or anything of the sort because I wouldn't be surprised if she tied it up in the back yard or something.

Foam Head

We've been working on sealing up air leaks in our almost hundred year old home. Bought a piece of styrofoam insuluation at Lowe's yesterday. Had to wedge it in on top of my head in the van to get it home. It made me miss the truck.

We're gonna create a box that goes in the attic and covers the opening of the attic pull-down stairs. Bought insulated curtains for Katee's room last week.

All a Twitter

The good news is Katee has finished another semester of college. She made the Dean's list and I finally paid the last payment of the semester to the school.

Charlie took Seroquel this week. It made his body go all wonky. Captured it on video. Will post it later. He's not taking that anymore.

Discovered Twitter. Made a video on it and started a twitter.com account.

Cherub and Angel

What lovely young people Katee and Auguste are. They spent Saturday and Sunday with their mommas and other family members.

Katee bought me a radio alarm clock. It's a much needed Mother's Day present since I broke mine a couple of months ago.

The other part of my present included the two of them taking me to church. They went to church with Auguste's momma Saturday night. (Kathryn)

My Brains Hurts

I has hurted my brains by trying to learn to put together TV stories.

Think lighting, think good framing of shot, think of the story, think WWWWWH, think don't get shaky video, think, think, think think... (Kathryn)

My Spacing it Up

I won a video camera from KTBS. It was in the house less than 10 minutes and Katee had to start taking pictures with it.

I could complain but since I bought her a camera a couple of years ago and have completely stolen it from her, I will not utter a word. Just blog a post on it... (Kathryn)

Eggs

These egg cartons go back to my mother in Haughton. She's found a farm couple who sells eggs with the richest colored egg yolks you've ever seen.

We're living on hard boiled eggs around here. Now if I could perfect my egg poaching skills.

To learn more about Kitti and recycling click here. (Kathryn)

Wristcutters and Dirtfoot

Katee's semester will be over in a couple of weeks. She was an English major but I think she's switching to history.

We had a good weekend. Watched Juno and Wristcutters. Is it just me or does the music from Wristcutters sound like the kinda of music the Shreveport band Dirtfoot plays? (Kathryn)

How I Entertain Myself at Work

I pulled this out of my lunch box. That's why it's got a little folds in the paper. (Kathryn)

Threads

Vacation ended Tuesday night at 8 PM. That's when my work week started. I'm reading Jill Fredston's Rowing to Latitude:Journeys Along the Arctic's Edge and I think I'm finding some new ideas on dealing with a draining job even though the book really has nothing to do with that.

I'm intrigued by the trailers for the new Jackie Chan and Jet Li movie The Forbidden Kingdom. There's a lot of swirling fabric in it. I might not wait for DVD on this one. The last movie I saw, Fido, came courtesy Katee and Netflix. (Kathryn)

Silent Film of Our Bottle Garden

Experimenting with the camera on movie mode. The bottle garden grows in the front yard of our house on Dalzell Street.(Kathryn)

Recycling?

Ms Peachez has found a better use for one of those red Family Dollar carts. I discovered this fun Shreveport character about a year ago.

Vacation time means playing around with You Tube and contemplating making my own movies.(Kathryn)

Vacation Middle

Day five of a nine day vacation. I've cleaned a little. Haven't taken many pictures. Went to the doctor with Katee today. Now I'm washing dog beds and contemplating washing dogs. Did wash Bebe the Maltese a couple of days ago. (Kathryn)

Dog Fat

The best way to pass the time while waiting in line to pay for groceries is to read magazines. It's amazing the things you can learn such as: if your dog is obese, help has arrived.

By the way, I've always noticed fat people have skinny dogs and skinny people have fat dogs. (Kathryn)

Monday: Waiting for the Trash Man

Bird watching from the front porch, contemplating cleaning out the litter box, pounding thighs for Chicken Parmesan... it's been an exciting start to my 9 day vacation. (Kathryn)

Surgery Boy

I wasn't on top of what Charlie was doing with himself (medically) so he had surgery two Fridays ago. Surgery on both feet that will probably do more damage than the original condition. But if you say "take a pill or cut on you" he's ready! He's a true American Hero because of all the money he's donated to area doctors and hospitals. (Kathryn, dripping with sarcasm and one day away from vacation).

Pretty Babies

Some of my nieces and nephews are in town because their mother (my sister-in-law) is sick and she is staying with her mother. I've not spent much time with the kids because of work and my wacky schedule -- working nights I'm awake when everyone else is asleep. Next week is my vacation. I'm ready. Maybe I can play with the babies then. (Kathryn)

Pinked

Almost three hundred dollars. That's how much we paid to fix the pink Honda two weeks ago.

Then this week in the parking lot of the Salvation Army on Stoner Street it wouldn't start again. I called Charlie. He came because the AAA membership is in his name.

I went home for coffee and water for him. He stayed under the hood jiggling wires. Just as the tow truck was seconds away from arriving he found a loose wire and attached it. Tinkerbell started. We canceled the tow and headed home to find black electrical tape.

He's my hero because I hate car trouble but with two vehicles that both have over two hundred thousand miles, it happens. (Kathryn)

Hammered Copper

Charlie's kitchen remodel continues.
This is the "new" countertop, which is the old one sprayed with Krylon Fusion for Plastic Paint Hammered Finish in copper.
See the old yellow laminate ones here . (Kathryn)

First Mow

Charlie cut all the fresh spring weeds down today. Everytime I see these mini hills of green I think of my youth in Oklahoma's Green Country. How convenient for Easter egg hiding after these tender leaves mound up. (Kathryn)