Snapshots

Grumble, Grumble

I'm sitting at home watching the Today show (did you know I don't work Fridays [in the summer?]) feeling blah. Feeling like I should go to the gym. Feeling like I shouldn't have just eaten that monster cookie for breakfast. Thinking I should finish unpacking from our trip a week ago. Thinking the bathroom really needs to be cleaned. Wishing I had a pool to go to today.

Blah.

Also, I was really looking forward to sleeping in nice and late today, but then there were these hot air balloons flying over the backyard and the pups just kept barking and barking and barking. Who is taking a hot air balloon ride over McKinney, Texas at 6:30 AM?! But, I'm awake now. So I guess I'll get ready for the gym. And then unpack. And clean the bathroom...

366 Days Ago

Watching fireworks in Vail

Well, yesterday was our one year anniversary - holy scnhipeys! when did that happen? We spent pretty much the entire day driving home from Farmington, NM, which ended up taking right at 12 hours. It was the tail end of our summer road trip, during which we spent a week driving up into the mountains where, oh hey, it rains everyday! Everything was great though, and now as I sit here being lazy, I can literally see the piles of laundry that I need to start and then figure out how I am going to wake up at 5:30 tomorrow when my alarm goes off for work, after having spent the past 19 days sleeping in.

It's good to be home though, and I am even strangely looking forward to work tomorrow. I miss my friends up at my school, and our new Head of School officially started on July 1, so it will almost be like going back to a brand new place. Plus, I have no boss. And probably won't until at least August, so that should make for a stress-free work environment, right? I am excited about this school year though. I'm looking forward to starting my grad school classes (still currently "under department review," but whatevs) and getting some time in the classroom when I can. In fact, I am secretly hoping that one of the cute, young, married teachers in 2nd - 4th grade will get pregnant this fall and then I can take over as a long term sub for her classroom in the Spring. That could totally happen. Maybe.

But in the meantime, laundry. And then maybe at dinner tonight, toasting to 366 days ago.

Oh and. Because we like to have weddings every year in my family, check out my beautiful sister's beautiful wedding, which was on July 1, up in Oklahoma City. They had high's in the 104-ish range all week, but a true wedding miracle occurred when a big ol' cloud came out of nowhere and shaded the garden just in time for the ceremony. My ushering Husband was more than happy for a break in the heat as he escorted the guests and grandmas to their seats!

Blogging From the Road

My first blog post from the road!

Miles driven so far on this little road trip: 1455

McDonald's stops: 5

Awaiting Department Review

..... every time I check the status of my grad school application, it just says "Awaiting Department Review." Come on department! Review it already!

So I scrambled like crazy last week to take the admissions test, submit my application and get all the necessary documents submitted that I needed to officially apply. Now, how long will this department review take exactly?

Tomorrow we head to Oklahoma City for my sister's wedding. Whoa! That got here fast. We get back Saturday night and then leave for a road trip Sunday morning. So I'm packing for two different trips - one is an outdoor wedding on a day when the high is predicted to be 104 (ahhhh), and the other is a trip to the mountains where it gets down to 43 at night. So yeah. Pretty much everything is going in the suitcase at this point.

Last night we went to the summer concerts series at the Arboretum with some friends. It was 80's night and the Spazmatics were playing, so we decided to bust out some 80's poses ourselves.

So She Did

It's been decided. I'm going to grad school. Getting my Master's. I just gotta apply and, you know, get in. Yikes.

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.