The staff at my school voted to do a sick-out action in support of students' demands for safety. What I wish people knew: This doesn't feel like a day off. It's actually stressful. The test positivity rate at my school is 15%. The student organizers are demanding KN95 masks for students, more testing, and outdoor lunch areas. If the students don't feel safe, it isn't safe, and I stand with them. My heart has been in my throat all day though.

There was a shooting last night at the complex where I grew up and where my parents still live. A man and 8-year old girl died. Someone's daughter, classmate, grandchild. WTF!! I visited them a few days ago and know this area is really bad, but this is horrifying and heartbreaking. I want to help my parents move out of there.

One of my students received a visit from CPS today. He asked me to sit with him while he was interviewed by the social worker. At the end of the day, out of nowhere, he hugged me. This is a kid who has been cussing, fighting, and arguing with adults. When other kids are not around, he's a sweetheart. When kids are acting out, there is always a reason! They need for us to protect them and believe in them.

I whole heartedly and 100% support the trans community. But as someone who works with high school kids, I can also say that a lot of kids are coming out as trans who aren't truly trans. My first thought is, so what? Who cares if a kid wants to go by a different name or pronouns. And kids can wear whatever they feel comfortable with. It doesn't affect anyone else, so anyonoe who has a problem with it can just move along. But I am seeing a lot of kids come our as trans, and then a couple of years later regret it. They no longer want to go by their chosen name and want to dress as their assigned gender. But they are too ashamed to go back. So they are stuck either feeling embarassed and like a fraud or going along with their chosen gender until they are out of high school, which causes a whole new set of issues. I don't know how to help them.

I love that whenever my steaming hot cup of "I hate men" is running low, I can come here and you all remind me what tossers they are. It warms the cockles of my cold, dead heart.

Texas: Aborting an inch long fetus with no discernible heart or lungs is murder. Also Texas: Oh, this teenager ran over six cyclists in a pick up truck? Totally fine. Oh, hey is that an unarmed Black men? Where did we put our assault weapons?

I'm an actual empath, and it bugs the HELL out of me that it's become a blanket statement for being able to read others' moods. It's much more than that. Being an empath means that you actually take on someone's feelings. Example: one day I was happily shopping at B&BW when suddenly I nearly crumpled to the floor in despair. I began sobbing heavily and hyperventilating. The feeling of loss and heartache was profound. A few hours later I got a call from a friend that one of our other good friends had found her husband passed away in his car of a heart attack that afternoon. Another time I woke up in the morning just wanting to end it all. I had the most terrible, intrusive thoughts that I will never repeat to anyone. Found out a couple days later that it was a neighbor I was close to. She repeated those same thoughts to me. It's a good gift to have at times, but it's very stressful as well.

DH and I have been spending the summer near my Dad. Every year, just before we head home, he gets a little ‘clingy.’ His cardiologist told us a week ago that his tests revealed blockages in his heart, but wouldn’t do surgery. Today he tells me he can barely walk because his legs hurt so bad, and he’s decided that it’s because of the 80% occlusion in his femoral artery. The doc said NOTHING about percentages or the femoral artery! Five years ago he wouldn’t admit he had any medical issues. Now he’s taking his BP 8 times a day and checking his pulse ox at least 10.

What's wrong with me is I had to Google "symptoms of panic attack" at work today and yes, I was definitely having a panic attack. I don't know why but I don't like the feeling that I'm about to have a heart attack and die. If that could stop, that would be great. But I can walk around at work with no one knowing that I'm having a panic attack. That's pretty weird.

A fetus is not a baby. Hence the reason it's called a fetus. It doesn't have a heaertbeat, and it doesn't have a brain. That "heartbeat" is an electrical current that causes some cells to flutter. That's what you see on ultrasound. BTW, it can't be heard, because it's not really a heartbeat. The sound you may hear is actually a sound effect added by the ultrasound machine. It's not coming from the fetus or cells fluttering. Scientists can and have created the same visible "heartbeat" in a petri dish. Kind of hard to have a heartbeat when there's no heart. Abortion doesn't kill a person because a fetus is not a person.