okay. HUGE NEWS in the middle school. besides the fact that the eighth grade has gone hyde on me again. they are freaking moody. and not to mention the fact that they have HUGE entitlement issues. what is it with kids? i'm trying to do like 10 things at once, and yet there are people trailling me going "alinna, you need to blahdeeblahdeeblah for me right now" ... yeah, really going to motivate me to do great things for you. puh-lease. the fact that i studiously ignore them and go about my business is really lost on them. they are a TOUGH group to serve. how do you serve them but teach them and discipline them so they have manners at the same time?

anyways, my big news is this: WE HAVE GOT COCKROACHES. i swear. i have not seen one since i left berkeley (we used to walk down durant together) ... and now, they are freaking EVERYWHERE! no matter how often i say ... do not bring food into the classroom, etc. etc ... to no avail. i killed one yesterday, and now ... today, they moved in on my DESK. okay, it was my fault too ... i had half an orange sitting on top and then there were TWO OF THEM zoning in on my grub! i did not know how to deal with those things ... all those legs and feelers ... SICK! so i had a kid kill them ... and then they SQUISHED all over some kid's homework i hadn't graded yet ... MAN. it is ZERO FUN to be here sometimes. ants is one thing -- i can nail those suckers. but COCKROACHES. santa maria ... what am i going to do now?