Tumbling Down

Well my day started out with a bang, and a bump, and a bruise…

I fell down the stairs.

And it was terrifying.

Our house has this staircase that is divided into a long flight of about 10 or so stairs and then there is a landing with a little window, and it turns a 90 degree angle, and there is a smaller flight of about 5 or 6 stairs.  The house is over 100 years old and so the staircase is narrow and steep.  Now, that you have the setting pictured here’s what happened…

I was leaving my room on my way down to take a shower, I lost my footing (stupid slippers), and started to slip.  In mid-air I started to panic that I would somehow fall forward and go tumbling through the window and fall two stories, so I try to throw my weight back instead of forward.  I successfully (somehow) managed to fall backward and then I hit the stairs. And I hit hard.  I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me but I didn’t have any time to recover because as soon as I was on the ground, I proceeded to tumble-down the remaining short flight of stairs stopping at the landing.  Thankfully I didn’t continue to fall down the much longer flight of stairs.  But after I fell I just laid there for a while…I could tell I hadn’t broken anything but had jostled my neck pretty good as well as injuring my tailbone.  It felt like I had been hit by a line-backer, or by a bus, or some other big heavy thing had just run full force into me.

I have been in pain all day, although thankfully I was able to stay positive and upbeat with my kindergarteners despite feeling uncomfortable sitting, standing, walking, etc.  I love them to death, but sometime all their wants and needs can drive me a little bonkers.

At free time at the end of the day one of my little ones, made me a kite (a piece of construction paper taped to some string) and she very adamantly told me I should go fly it after school, I didn’t want to dash her hopes and let her know her teacher would not be flying her kite due to the huge amount of pain she was in; so  I told her I would put it up on the wall with the other artwork students have made for me so everyone could see it and that seemed to make her happy.

I didn’t get the job that I interviewed for last week, but tomorrow morning I will start my new sort of job at my current school.  I’ll basically be doing what I would have done had I gotten the job, minus the title.  So, tomorrow morning I’ll be meeting with teachers and trying to figure out how I can best help their students.  I’m really excited for the extra work, as well as the opportunity to get to know other staff and students, but with how I’m feeling right now I just wish I could sleep in! I’m definitely going to try to hit the hay early tonight, and I plan on taking a nice warm shower before bed to try to loosen up some of those stiff and sore muscles.

I even stopped at the pharmacy on the way home to see if they had any magical recommendations to make me feel better.  They didn’t.  And I got to tell more people that I fell down the stairs, it’s a little embarrassing.  But oh well. I got some chocolate and that certainly has helped my mood a bit, however I’m anticipating feeling worse tomorrow so we’ll see how that goes. :0)

Report Card Season

I’ve been MIA the past week, due to report cards at school.  It seems like when that time of year rolls around, things just get crazy! For every category on the report card there’s a test that I have to give my kids, it’s exhausting for them and for me.  It has been a very long week full of math and reading testing, but today will hopefully be the last day! Hallelujah! And after all this testing and since St. Patrick’s Day is tomorrow, we’re going to do a few fun little activities with Lucky Charms today!

In other new, I feel like I’ve been a little boy crazy in the last month in my posts. Sorry! Not meaning to be, just something that’s been on my mind, and so it comes out here. :0)

I had an interview for another part-time position on Tuesday (when it snowed!).  They only interviewed me and one other candidate, but I haven’t heard anything yet, so I’m thinking that they decided to go with the other person.  Which is okay, disappointing but okay.  The principal at my current school also offered me an additional part-time job, as a small group tutor essentially.  So, however it works out I’ll have more work which is such a Godsend!

Monday One Day

Random title I know…today has felt like a very long day. Coming back from a long weekend with the girls and diving straight back to work I feel like I need a day to recover! At least with afternoon kindergarten I got to sleep in this morning a bit! School was good and it was nice to see so many smiling faces, they are all so excited about Christmas!

I had to get ready for a sub again today since I have a day long meeting at the district office tomorrow, not exactly thrilled about that but I’m sure it will be beneficial. I’m being observed on Thursday and am feeling nervous about that, it’ll be a reading lesson and I basically know what I’m going to do but it’s always nerve-wracking to have someone watch and critique you. I had to teach a lesson as part of my interview so it’s reassuring that I got the job! I may end up writing the story I’ll use to teach the lesson since I haven’t found anything I’m set on yet.

And I know I already said it in my last post but I really do have the best friends, a very sweet reminder of that came my way tonight and I just feel beyond blessed to have such dear friends. Love them.

Oh Happy Day!

I got a JOB!!!! When I didn’t think it was possible, after all the interviews and calls where the principals told me I was the runner-up and they wished they could hire me too, I got a job! A month and a half into the school year and I got a teaching job!!

What a blessing! I went into the interview thinking I had a small chance of landing the job, and knowing that this was probably my last opportunity to get a contract this year, and God totally provided. When I got the call this morning, I could hardly believe it and was expecting to hear, “Thanks for coming in to interview, we’re offering the job to another candidate.” And instead, “We would like you to come be our new kindergarten teacher!” eeeeeee!! Squeals of joy!

This is going to be a challenge and I know my hands will be full, but I am so looking forward to working with this classroom of kids. Yay, yay, yay!

It’s conference week so I’ve been sitting in on conferences so I can meet parents and some of the kids. My first official day of teaching will be Monday, which just happens to be Halloween! It’s going to be a crazy November!

Just Great

Back from a long, unintended blogging break. And while not that much has changed aside from the fact that the school year will be coming to a close in 2 and a half weeks, I’m here to share news from my little corner of the world. This week has not been all that good. Okay, not totally true.

Last weekend was wonderful. Kim, Natalie and I had a little reunion over Memorial Day weekend. It was the first time we’d all hung out since February getting Kim ready to head down to Oregon for her dream job.  I love those girls. It’s like no time has passed when we’re together, minus the fact that now one of us has a husband, we are not in college anymore living next door to each other, and life seems to be more complicated.  Anyway, we had a weekend full of laughter and giggles, watching old videos from our college days and staying up way too late.  Miss them already.

School was actually pretty good this week, no major issues minus trying to catch up on the lack of sleep from an eventful weekend. My kids were great. They have Spring Fever and are so ready to be done. I’m right with them but have to keep them focused on school still, it’s been a little challenging, but we had lots of laughs this week.

Oh, and let me just add this little morsel of awkwardness. So last week, we had this open house thing where parents could come with their kids to see what they’ve been up to in class lately. I had about half my class come, anyway this very sweet little girl came with her dad. And after she’s showed him her work, etc. She looks at me and says, “My dad likes you.” And he goes “Well, she’s a great teacher!” And here’s the kicker, she responds, “Yeah, and he wants to ask you out!”

AHHH! I wanted to die, I think I just kinda awkwardly smiled and tried to brush it off, thankfully other parents and kids were in the room so I wasn’t stranded and then the little girl and her dad left. Well, I thought that was the end of that. Yesterday, she writes me this note:

“My Dad loves you. He’s been dreaming about you. He loves you.”

Ahhh!! I didn’t respond and now I’m desperately hoping he’s not going to try to ask me out after school ends. I need a pretend boyfriend, or a real one, and fast!

So embarrassing incident, number one…then, fast forward to this morning, wake up to a glorious day sun shining and the hopeful promise from the weatherman  today will be in the high 60s. I got ready for school and headed off to work, stopped and got a coffee, and headed towards the building.  Well, I was running just a tad late and right as I’m approaching the building those flashy signs that let you know when you need to slow down during school hours turned on, and I started to slow down…

Not fast enough. I got pulled over in the school parking lot, for speeding in a school zone, even though I was in the middle of slowing down.  Oh and wait it gets better, standing out front of school is a crowd of 5th and 6th graders hanging out.  And yes, they totally recognized me and watched the whole saga of me being ticketed unfold.

I was mortified, and not to mention now even later for work then I was before. AND, I have an almost $300 fine to pay because in case you didn’t know, speeding in a school zone is a double fine. yikes! I managed to hold it together until I got to my classroom, through calling Mom and then I called Dad and tears started falling.  We talked for a few minutes until I had to let my munchkins in and I managed to pull it together. But then later today, one of my students came up to me and said, “Were you upset you got pulled over?” I answered yes, to which she replied, “I thought so, it looked like you’d been crying when we came in this morning.” And she patted my shoulder and smiled at me. Kids somehow know when you need a little extra love, brightened my day.

And the kids were definitely talking about all the excitement I’d caused, I heard from several teachers who heard from students about my being pulled over.  In one way it was nice though.  The teacher whose classroom is next door came over and gave me a big hug and told mer her own school zone ticket story, so thanks 6th graders for spreading the word. Gah, I made it through the day in one piece, and managed to drive home and to Tacoma without having any more interactions with the police.

I’m really hoping tomorrow will be better, and I can stop feeling so stupid.

Reminder

Today was spent in a day long meeting, yuck…

But I was greeted with this email when I got home, from one of my teaching partners from last year:

I just read Hannah’s springboard writing.  It was all about how her 5^th grade teacher had changed her life for the better.  Good job.  Remember Hannah when you’re not feeling like you’ve made a difference.

 Drunkle

Huge smile on my face! :0)

Overflowing October

Life has flashed by in a stream of craziness lately, in good ways and bad. I’m sleepy and have an early morning (inservice – yuck) but have some time to update.

Young Life started back up with a bang, more like an explosion! We’ve had 60+ kids at the past two clubs, AMAZING! And pretty much all of it is due to two awesome kids we took to camp this summer. It’s unbelievable, and we’re hoping that those kids will keep coming back.

I met up with one of my girls tonight. After we briefly talked at church this morning, I knew something was up and we decided to get together for a little catch-up.  Life is stressful and scary for her right now. We sat in Starbucks drinking coffee and gabbing for a long time, laughing at the awkwardness of the football game she went to yesterday and just life. She’s a treasure, and my heart hurts for what she’s going through.

She did ask me if I would speak at YL sometime soon, which makes me nervous and also excited, I told her I’d think about it, but it probably wouldn’t happen for a while. We’ll see.

I feel like I’m getting into a routine with my second graders. Who I adore most of the time. I miss being able to joke around with my 5th and 6th graders from last year, and giving them crap about stuff -  in a good way of course. But second grade has its perks. They’re so open and willing to try anything without worrying about not being cool. I love that they attack me with hugs at the end of the day and at random intervals throughout. I love that while they’re out at recess and I walk from my portable into the building they run over to say hi or wave from the monkey bars as though they haven’t seen me in years. They are wonderful in their own ways, and although they’ll never be my very first class, they are my first second class.

Ahh, and what post would be complete without an update about my nonexistent love life. I’ve decided that the potential love connection at camp (see posts from July/August) will never happen and I don’t really want it to anyway. We are not really compatible, at all.  And he’s not exactly funny, I want a guy who can make me laugh and I want a guy who I don’t know is more chivalrous, I don’t know if that’s exactly the best word for what I mean but I’m tired and vocabulary has flown out the window.

Going to Spokane next weekend for parents weekend with sister. I was there a week ago, long story short, heartbroken sister stuck on this side of the mountains until Sunday afternoon unless I drove her back early, so I did. Long weekend for me, but totally worth it to be there for her. I’m looking forward to this trip since I won’t be the one driving and I’ll be hanging out with her in a larger span of time!

One last tidbit, rehearsals for the fall play are going well. I’m choreographing two dances in addition to assistant directing and the other odd jobs I do to help out. I got 95% of one dance figured out yesterday now I just have to start teaching it to the kids! Love, love, love theater!

Alright, bedtime for me, more soon, promise.

So close…

It came down to two finalists…myself and another candidate. We taught a short lesson with six kids – which I was delighted to see when I walked in that 3 of the 6 were Kelsey, Piper, and Reese! How nice to have smiling, familiar faces! – I felt really, REALLY good about the lesson I taught and how I related to the kids.

An hour and a half later the call came and then there were the words you know can’t be good, “Well we really want to thank you for coming in to interview…” and the rest of the conversation is downhill from there. There was good feedback, and she said they offered it to the other person because she had more experience at the grade level. I  did hear good things from several people so overall it was a good experience, and I don’t feel the way I did after the interview before this…I’m proud of myself.

Strangely, I feel at peace…mostly. I am disappointed, and frustrated with this continual process of getting so close and then I don’t get the job. Michelle made a really good point when I was talking to her and I said that I just wish I didn’t get the call to interview if it’s not the job for me just leave it there…but then she reminded me that I want to be getting those calls because it means good things are out there about me, people know me and want to hire me, if I wasn’t getting called, that would be something to worry about…

Tomorrow is the last day in August, and then the count down is on until September 8 and the start of school. At this point I’m really expecting a year of subbing…and trying to focus on the upside of that. Learning from other teachers, getting my name out there, working with all sorts of different age groups, flexibility to not work a day if I don’t feel like it.

I feel exhausted, like I’ve been on a roller coaster but at the same time I know I’m going somewhere I’m not stuck on this eternal track of up and down. So maybe I’ve just been on a very long road trip through some windy, bumpy, rough patches but headed towards a glorious sunrise…God has a plan and I’m really relying on that. It’s hard to keep telling people I didn’t get the job, but none of them were my jobs. It’s still out there, and it may be another year or even more before I find it, but it’s out there somewhere. God knows where he’s taking me, I just need to sit back and enjoy the ride.

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P.S. My Young Life kids are the best, what a way to end this hectic day…love them

Starting Over

yesterday was a bad day, in fact it’s one of the few times I’ve broadcast my mood over my facebook account…

I thought I had the job, it was mine for the taking. but God has other plans, and now I’m starting over, waiting and anticipating what will come next. I had an offer to nanny for the coming year and was very tempted to take it, especially because it would be for an incredible family and 2 little kiddos I love, but it felt like the easy way out. So I turned it down.

I know crazy right, here on the same day where I don’t get the teaching job I thought was mine I get a job offer for something else. But it’s just that I went to school to be a teacher, I’m passionate about teaching and working with kids. And nannying I’d still be working with kids, but it’s not quite the same…so I’m sticking out this rough patch with faith that the RIGHT job is still out there, which means the right job for me this year might be subbing but there is a plan and a purpose in that and I will do it for God’s glory.

Right now I just need to live in trust and faith, saturate every moment with the knowledge that He has a plan.

I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but clearly I never do. There’s no way for me to know what’s coming, I don’t know how many times God has tried to teach me this lesson. And I get it for a while, and then something new comes on the horizon and I’m sure I’ve got my life figured out and the lesson needs to be taught again.

I guess it really is like Forest Gump says.

Interview #1

The first interview of the summer is officially over. And it went by fast. So, I showed up early and had to wait around in the office for like 10 minutes while the person in front of me finished. I went back to the conference room, and it was a small interview committee (at least to what I’ve seen in the past), just three people.  And only like five questions. Which contributed to the quickness, but I also think I talked at turbo-warp speed. oops. So, from all of that it seems like they are doing quick interviews because they know who they are going to hire and the whole interview process is just a formality.

I think I answered all the questions well. It’s hard sometimes to think of answers off the top of your head, and sometimes I’d start to answer a question and then realize that my answer wasnt’ exactly what I wanted to communicate, so then I’d have to think of a way to spin it in a new direction.

I have another interview with the same school on Monday, for one of three open positions, that would just be for a year. And if I get called back for a second interview, then I would have to teach a model lesson. I hate doing that, but whatever it takes to get the job. So, check that off as another reason that the interview for this job was not meant to be.

Oh, and then Scott called to ask about some of my kids last year, and if they would be good in a split again this year. Not a good omen, it seems that my  potential job at SG may be vanishing…overall, feeling kinda defeated. And it doesn’t help that I hardly slept at all last night, nerves I think. But life goes on!

Anyway, I’m going to put on some more casual clothes and run a few errands, maybe even go to Target…oh how I love Target!

**UPDATE – Got the official word, I didn’t get the job.