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I came back to this journal thing a couple of days ago with nothing bad in particular to report, but we got some bad news today. Nothing particularly bad ever happens to me anymore, so to work things out in the same way as those who come to the conclusion that people shoot up shopping malls because they play Grand Theft Auto, or that the increase global warming is directly responsible for the worldwide decline in pirates, it's plainly obvious that this is a result of my recent return to Alternative Nation. Damn you, forum!

Janette got word from her Principal this afternoon that she's been 'shortlisted', which basically means that they have too many teachers for the next school year after summer and not enough students, so unless something drastic happens like one of the other teachers leave or there's a sudden increase in kids, she's going to have to be shuffled off to another school. Now, I'm quite reliably informed this doesn't mean she's not going to have a job and we're completely screwed - her contract is with the Durham school board, not with the individual school, so she gets first dibs on any other job that comes up in the Durham region, and even if she doesn't get what she's looking for, Durham have to put her somewhere, so there's a job in September no matter what happens.

With me being the eternal cynic that I am, however, I'm not 100% convinced... my head's always in the worst case scenario, which leaves us living on my salary alone. That's not by any means impossible, but we've got some big plans this year that really rely on that extra income. I've been planning a trip back to Scotland for the longest time, I really want to be there at the end of this summer for a couple of weeks. We want to get the basement finished, which will likely cost about 10 grand, and I'd rather be able to pay for it out of my own pocket than get a loan for it. Plus we're already working on getting pregnant (or getting her pregnant at least, I already look like I am), but it won't be much good bringing another Copland into the world if we don't have any money. Most important of all, I want an Xbox 360. None of these things are much of a good idea if all our money is going into just getting by.

This is just me being selfish, though. The reality of it is, it's nothing more than a big inconvenience to Janette. After all her hard work and effort to get settled in the last year, and she pretty much has to do it all again, at a new school with new teachers and new kids. It may work out to be for the best, she might land the kindergarten job she wants, and have much more sensible hours (right now she leaves for work at 6:30am every day). It may land her in some garbage school in South Oshawa or some other random place in the middle of nowhere. The point is, there hasn't been a single year since we first got together 5 years ago that's just been 'normal'. She thought she was settled, that things could just be routine for a change. So much for that.

Apparently it's 'shortlist season'... Janette's sister-in-law, who is also a teacher (but with the Toronto Catholic board), also got the same notice today. She's also only been in the school she's at since last summer. Apparently this re-shuffling of new teachers is quite common, as when a school has too many teachers then seniority goes to whoever has been there the longest. Laura (Janette's sister-in-law) by all accounts didn't take the news quite so well as Janette has, though. We can't blame her, she's married to Janette's brother, who quit his job two years ago and hasn't done a single day's work since. They already live on her salary alone.

At the end of the day, I'm not going to get so wound up about it, even if my worst case scenario does happen. Age or experience or something has given me a strangely different perspective on the world. Right now, my wife and kid are upstairs sleeping soundly, both in good health, and tomorrow I'll wake up and they'll both be right here with me. That's way more important than the need for a poxy Xbox 360, eh? Oh dear. I've spent my whole life insisting the glass is half empty, only to realise it wasn't even my glass, mines is still filled to the top.

I've been thinking, for some time now, that my sentences, have too many commas in them, and that I should, perhaps, structure my sentences, a little, you know, better, eh?