It’s Manic Monday time and today’s questions are:

1. What would you do with an extra hour each day?
2. Do you wear a watch? If so, tell us about it. If not, how do you keep track of time?
3. If it was possible, would you want to know how many days you had left to live? 

A pretty easy set this week, huh?  So now for my answers:

1. What wouldn’t I do? I’d be working on my to do list – probably doing a lot here online with my blogs.
2. Yes. I have to wear a watch daily or it drives me crazy.  I’m currently wearing a silver Mickey Mouse watch.
3. Absolutely not.  I would not want to live with that knowledge hanging over my head.

Want to get to know some other bloggers?  Go to your blog and answer these questions and be sure to go back to the Manic Monday official post for today and share your link.

I normally write two posts, but decided this week to combine this one  - mostly for time sake, I have to be to work early this morning.  So moving on to another of my favorite memes – Monday Morning Meme hosted by WriteFromKaren.

1. You’ve been invited on a talk show (which talk show?) to explain your job to the hosts. What would you say you do on a daily basis? (And yes, stay-at-home mom IS a job!)

The only talk show I watch is Oprah so I guess that is the one I’d have to say – I don’t even know what other ones come on anymore.  What do I do? Well I’m a high school teacher so everyday is a new day.  You never know what will happen each day, but every day I see 85+ teenagers through my doors and attempt to teach them a little about grammar, writing, and reading.

2. What words do you hate? Why do you hate them?

Besides some of the stronger curse words, I hate the words – can’t, never, eventually and shut up.  I hate can’t because once my students really get it in their mind they “can’t” do something, then I have the harest time changing their minds.  Never and eventually are just words that always mean unhappiness to me.  Shut up is a phrase that I just think is ugly.  I hate it.

3. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received. What’s the worst advice you’ve ever received.

The best advice was to always be a mommy – always make that important – but to remember there’s more to me than that.  The worst advice? I don’t know….there’s been guys my friends recommended over the years that they told me I really should give a chance that I wished I hadn’t pretty soon – does that count?  I really don’t know that  I’ve been given much bad advice in my life. I surround myself with some great people.

4. Bailout shmailout! What this country needs is __________. Why does it need this specific thing?

To restructure our education system so that we don’t leave any children behind, but we don’t prepare them ALL for 4 year universities.  We need to understand and respect that many will go to technical and vocational schools and prepare them for that.  We need to teach them all real life skills (like basic cooking, balancing a checkbook, etc) instead of forcing them all through chemistry, physics, and calculus).  Why do we need this? Because as we continue to raise expectations and try to mold our children into university bound students, we are in fact leaving a lot behind because they shut down, give up, or drop out.