Warning: rant follows....

I obviously was not cut out for the blogging life. But it turns out I just need big events in order to be pushed into writing. The current one is not too exciting. I'm sure many of you have heard about the difficulties with state budgets around the country, and Illinois is no different. They are proposing cuts to just about every social service. This is one of those moments where I want to shake people and say they should be begging for an income tax increase, if they just would take a second to consider the repercussions. Today that started to hit home, as four of the people who work for my organization were laid off. Four teachers. And the kicker is that with the budget like it is there is virtually no chance of them getting early childhood jobs anytime soon. It just makes me sad. I guess I just hear the rhetoric of "taking care of your own" over and over, and I get so sick of this myth that everyone can equally take care of theirs. Thousands of families in Illinois need a subsidy to be able to pay for childcare, so they can work, go to school, and get the chance for a better life for their kids. And even if someone's belief system allows them to think that these parents earned what they get, what about the young kids who will have worse educational outcomes long-term because of an inability to support a 1.5% income tax increase? Ok I will stop now, it's just that things like this make me angry.

Don't mean to be a total Debbie Downer, because other than that things really are great in Chicago. My job is going well, I'm really enjoying it, but the one downfall (other than government funding) is going to be the leaving. This job is just so based on relationships that it is going to be hard to leave. Not to mention leaving all my housemates and all my Chicago friends! But this weekend I get to see Kate (housemate) and AJ get married, which will be great, along with some exciting trips up soon!

Happy Summer!