Saturday, February 28, 2009

wow...where does the time go?

Hi friends! Oh how I've missed you!

Things here have been...well, busy. I'm officially in a long term substitute postion for the next 2 months and I couldn't be happier about it.

I'm blessed to have been offered this opportunity at a truly incredible school with an inspiring take on a child centered facility. This school and these people are changing lives every day and I am so lucky to call this place my employment home, as temporary as it may be.

That being said the outlook for the future is bleak. I'm not one to get political on you but the bail out/rescue/whatever you like to call it plan that was recently passed will not help me get a job and it will not help schools increase their staff. Its SO difficult to look at myself from the outside in and not be selfish and wonder, "How am I falling thru the cracks?"

I have 2 college degrees and most recently a teaching certification. I'm outgoing, consistent, reliable and trustworthy. I have a good work ethic and I've never had so much passion to make a difference in the world as I have had the past 6 months or so. Yet the opportunities for me are non-existent right now.

It's a fine line I walk each day, balancing between the feeling that I've never been more blessed and the feeling that I'm terrified that this opportunity will not present the result I'm praying for.

To be in the classroom, to be engaging, encouraging and praising students each day is truly what I am supposed to do. I've never been so sure about anything. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to realize this potential and passion within myself. But, there are no jobs! And the available jobs go to teachers with years of experience...I've been told that I may not even get the chance to interview!

So I have to have faith. Faith that there is a plan in place for me and that everything does happen for a reason. I can't imagine being given the gift of the realization of what I want to do with my life and not having the opportunity to use it.

So until I know more I have to take it one day at a time. And I have to cherish each day, each moment that I get to spend in the world of education. In hopes that one day, hopefully sooner than later, it will become more than just temporary.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

A little Dennys...a little Home Depot....a lot of laughs

Top 10 Reasons you would've laughed if you were me today

10. I only have 150 pages left of the 4th book in the Twilight series....I'll be a little sad when there's no more to read.

9. I got to teach 2nd grade for a 1/2 day today and had send 3 kids to the nurse and then home for having a 100+ temp.

8. I also had to break up a fist fight....thats right, closed fists of 2nd graders making contact with 2nd grade jaws. I freaked.

7. I went to Denny's wanting a free Grand Slam Breakfast for lunch but didn't pull into the parking lot when I saw over 100 people in line outside of the restaurant. Are you kidding me?

6. I decided I'm just cheap enough to give it another shot so I drove to another Denny's and waited in that line for a 1/2 hour and then I made it inside!!!

5. I randomly started chatting with the ladies around me and ended up sitting with them. And here, I was completely prepared to be "that girl" alone in the corner with my eggs.

4. It turns out two of the three ladies I sat with knew eachother because they grew up in the same area of Lousiana and had mutual friends/family.

3. It turns out two of the ladies lived in my home down around the same time I did and I have a BUNCH of mutual friends with one of them.

2. Just as I'd finished my breakfast, a random young man ran sprinting across the restaurant. I couldn't figure out what was going on until I saw the trail of remenants following him and the odor hit my nose. I guess he ate too many pancakes and decided to vomit the entire time as he ran to the bathroom. Yeah. I'm done. Thanks

and the number one reason you would've laughed if you were me today...

BF sent me to home depot with a shopping list that consisted of a metal pipe and a blow torch. I'm laughing just thinking about all the looks of confusion that were flying my way. Ahhhhahahahah.


In all seriousness, I spoke with the manager at Dennys and asked him what brought on this Free Grand Slam promotion. His answer was so refreshing. He told me that Denny's really wanted to send a message to Americans that even though times are tough, wallets are tight and hopes are low...you can still get good service and great food at a reasonable price. I think they now actually have a 99 cent breakfast menu! Regardless, everyone there was smiling, friendly and really enjoying this great promotion that Dennys offered today.