Things Fall Apart

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I found this clicking around on pinterest last week and felt like it was the perfect quote for me to find. Especially the last line. Good things fall apart so better things can fall together.

For the past five months, I have been taking the steps to make a career change. I've always known in my heart that I want to teach. And around mid-February, it was like a light bulb went off in my mind that Hello? I totally can. I can get my certification and get a job, possibly at the (super wonderful) school I already work at. I can do this. I don't love my current job. I love my school and I love all the people here, but the asking people for money and bending over backwards for donors day in and day out? I am over it. I'm not the least bit passionate about this field. But I so, so, so want to teach.

So one night over dinner back in March-ish I told Mark my idea. He was on board and more than excited for me to get out of the negative atmosphere of my current position. So I researched a number of teaching certification programs in the area and contacted several of them before deciding on what felt like the best place for me. I met with an adviser at this school, and everything just clicked into place. It felt right. I took the required admission test and officially submitted my application. Classes would start in August and over the next year, I would earn my certification and then apply for a teaching position for the 2012 school year. It was a ways off, but I knew time would fly and I was so excited about getting back to school and taking classes and learning about this new field, that I didn't even mind the long timeline.

My plan was to quietly get my certification while still maintaining my current job. Classes were two evenings a week, which was totally doable. But then a couple months ago, a teaching position opened up at my school for this coming fall and something inside me told me I should apply for it. I knew I could do it, if I could just convince the leaders at my school that I could. So I talked to our HR manager and the teacher who is leaving the position, and they both encouraged me to try for it. I interviewed with the Head of the Lower School, the school Headmaster, and the department head for the position. I got to teach a sample lesson to a class of third graders and had so. much. fun. The entire process reaffirmed even more that this is 100% what I want to do.

In the end, I didn't get the job. I have zero true-life experience, and I knew it was a long-shot. But, by going out on a limb and applying for the position, I spilled the beans to my current boss, the head of the Lower School, and our Headmaster that I want to switch jobs. Which turned out to be the best thing possible. The Lower School Head loved how I taught and came to me afterwards to tell me that she wants to work with me for the next year, while I am taking my certification classes, to get me in a teaching position at our school for next fall. She talked to my boss and we're going to work it out so that I can sub in several classes during the year, shadow and observe teachers, and take professional development classes and trainings through the school. I'll be meeting weekly with the LS Head and she will serve as my mentor while I transition to this new career. I couldn't be in a more perfect position to achieve my goal.

But then. Then things fell apart. A couple weeks ago, I got a call from the director of the program where I applied for my certification classes. I thought for sure that she was calling to tell me I had been accepted into the school. However, she was instead calling to tell me that the school they were affiliated with decided to completely eliminate the teaching certification program, and could I please come pick up my application packet. No explanation. No apology for completely throwing the biggest wrench into my plan.

So I'm back to the drawing board, looking for a new place to take classes. The problem I am running in to is that pretty much all of the other programs in the area are designed to get you in and out in 6-8 weeks and get you into the classroom by August. This is not what I want to do. I never wanted to rush through the process of learning "how to be a teacher." I enjoy being in school and I want to feel completely prepared when I have a classroom of my own. Plus, our Lower School Head flat out told me she doesn't hire candidates who go through these kinds of programs. She would rather I find a slower-paced program that gives you more opportunities to shadow current teachers and take classes that last an entire semester, rather than two weeks.

Thus, good things fall apart. I'm on the hunt for the better things now.

48 Hours

Until I land in this place to visit this girl!



It can't come soon enough.

Just now at work, I had to call the Fancy Schmancy Club where we are having a retirement reception next month and tell them the $35,000 quote they gave me needs to be more in the $8,000 range, per my boss. There was a moment of silence on the other end. She thinks I'm crazy. And for what I'm asking, I think she might be right. If they can't come down to our budget, we have to change locations. For an event that is NEXT MONTH. And for which the invitations are all printed up and sitting in a box next to me, waiting to be mailed today.

I'm keeping my eye on the prize. Miami. Beach. Tan. Pool drinks.

Monday!!

This morning when my alarm went off, I jumped out of bed. I am so. pyshed. that it is Monday! Why? Because this weekend is over!!

This weekend was my school's 50th Anniversary/New Building Dedication/Alumni Reunion. I worked for three days straight. I was really, really nervous about most if it, mainly the Alumni Reunion, because I was 100% solely in charge of it. If it ended up sucking, it all would have been back on me. But everything was fantastic. Even better than expected. It all went so smoothly and was really a lot of fun for everyone. I am just so relieved that it's all over now!

Along with a weekend of work I also ate complete crap for the past three days. Take a look:

Friday - First ever GSES Homecoming Football Game, complete with The Hamburger Man grilling up burgers for everyone.
Saturday - New building Dedication, Alumni Art Show and Carnival, with all you can eat FREE pizza (hello, three slices) hot dogs, chips, ice cream and snow cones
Saturday Night - My reunion party! I was silently crying two weeks ago when only 47 people had RSVP'ed. We ended up with over 200 there! And.. BBQ brisket, potato salad, rolls and pie. Yum.
Sunday Morning - Alumni Breakfast.. you know, sausage, bacon, croissants, cinnamon rolls, yum, yum, yum

Saturday afternoon you would think I would have crashed, but I forged on and went to meet Laura and her sister and mom to try on her bridesmaid dresses (adorable!) and then we all grabbed lunch at Corner Bakery and chatted for a while. Then it was off to meet my dad to go to an open house up at Ursuline, and then.... dinner at Uncle Julio's. By this point, I was beyond full, yet went ahead and filled up even more on chips, salsa and tacos.

I'm starting over in October. Something's gotta give here!

Wedding dress shopping.. next week!

Where Were We?

My mom called me yesterday to express that she is concerned that we've haven't really booked any vendors for the wedding yet. Well, we do have a pretty awesome photographer, a really creative florist, a guy who makes wedding cakes for $1.25 a slice (what, what!) and, of course, our fabulous WP. So what are we missing? Hmm. A caterer. A DJ. A "local band" my dad swears he can find for free. Rentals. Linens. Chairs. Silverware. Invitations. You know. Everything else. Oh and also, the dress. A pretty big one as well.

We are trying to find a time when my mom and I are both free to start checking some of these things off the list. This is proving to be pretty difficult for the entire month of October. Between the Texas/OSU football games we're going to and the Tech games my parents are going to, we've got nothing. So I think we are just both going to take off a random Monday or Tuesday, invite Mark's mom to come down and go look for dresses. Then I need to get the WP and me up to Muenster to meet with the florist to start deciding what and how many flowers we want. Next week we are finally meeting with that DJ, so that might get crossed off soon too.

Last week, Mark and I started our marriage preparation classes with St. Gabriel's in McKinney. It's Mark's church now and will be our church once we get married, so we opted to do all the prep work there, as opposed to driving back and forth to Sacred Heart for the next several months. Back when we first got engaged and were trying to pick a date, we had to go meet with Fr. Ken in person before he would even open his calendar to give us his open Saturdays next summer. So we ran up there one weekend to get the ball rolling. As many probably know, there's a lot of prep work required if you want to get married in a Catholic church. Depending on what parish you want to use, there are a series of things you must do before the wedding. Fr. Ken started right into us, telling us that in his experience of marrying hundreds of couples there are three factors that greatly increase your odds of staying married: 1. Both being at least 21 (check!), 2. Having dated for at least six months (umm hello, check x 5!), and 3. Participate in some sort (any sort) of marriage preparation, whether in the church or elsewhere (working on that check!). First up for us in the marriage prep category is meeting with a sponsor couple.

I was actually excited about starting to meet with a couple from Mark's church. I like meeting new people and was pumped to get this process started. So last week we braved the thunderstorms and drove over to the snazzy part of McK and met Mike and Denise, married 21 years and parents of two high school boys (not to mention their fabulous house on the golf course with the infinity edge pool and television as big as an entire wall in my apartment!). They were so nice and excited to meet Mark and me (and to hear some wedding details!) and were super easy to talk to right off the bat. As part of the initial meeting, Mark and I had to each take a "compatibility" test that included 156 statements that we were supposed to either agree with, disagree with or mark as undecided. Denise told us to be totally honest and not put down what we thought the other wanted us to say. Then they send off this test to some place that scores us and we spend the next five sessions together talking about things that will be strengths and weaknesses in our marriage. I'm pretty sure I know where the "red flags" are going to come up. Let's just say I know Mark agreed with the question about me using the "silent treatment" when I'm upset about something. Oh Lordy. But I am looking forward to going back over to their house next week. We're ready for the challenge!

Next up? Well, I'm working this entire weekend, but by noon on Sunday I'll be free again. I'm meeting another B2B to try on bridesmaid dresses that afternoon and then my parents are going to come up to Dallas to run some errands and grab dinner. In the meantime it's t-minus four days until my huge alumni reunion weekend at work... AHH!