Dungeon

I started my classes last week! I was very excited to get things started and found that I even get my own classroom (not all art specialists do). The classroom is part of the old section of this school that was built way back when. You go down these stairs that are not up to code, so they don't let the kids use them -- they have to use the back door. When you get into the room it is pretty old and really needs a paid job and the cupboards have been painted probably 6 times. I still had my own desk though, and there is a wall of straight windows. I was even more excited when I got to see that I had ample supplies for my needs. The lady at the district that gave me some materials seemed a little skeptical of what I would get to use in that regard, but I think I will be happy with it.

Confession. I am a little nervous. I was pretty worn out after my first two days. My throat was tired from not just talking, but talking loudly over the children. My legs were tired, my ears were tired, and my patience was tired. :) I didn't LOVE my first few days, however, I am still looking forward to Monday...good sign. It was fun to have the kids wave at me in the hall and wisper, that is the art teacher. I was even given a rock by one of my students. A lucky rock. I was grateful and it is in my desk.

I get 40 minutes with each grade a day and I teach 3 days a week. I go through a lot of kids and teach the exact same lesson 15 times. It is a lot of work and monotonous. I am really looking forward to getting to know the staff and the kids better though and think that it is going to be a really good opportunity for my to get my foot in for a full-time position, which I think will be easier than what I am doing.

My boss at the Title Company was really nice about the situation, but I really didn't get much of a chance to let him decide. He had a whole 6 hrs to think about it and was sitting next to me when the principle called to get an answer on whether I was coming or not. I smiled at my boss while I was on the phone and said that I would force an answer out of him. We chatted for a second and he consented, but I think he was a little unhappy that he was loosing me as his assistant. Sigh, oh well, sorry David.

In other news, we are getting a horse. It is painted, black and white and it is being trained right now and we will get it in 6 weeks. We will also be getting a litter of puppies in the next week, which will be an adventure. And Charlie (who has been nick-named "humper-dink") is getting fixed tomorrow as well as the cat and we are hoping he will just be "perdink". If you catch my drift. A new kitchen table is also on the needs list, as we gave my sister hers back, so if any of you know anyone selling or where to get a descent table...let me know.

Waiting....

Last week proved to be an interesting one. I was home sick on Monday, which is only the 2^nd time I have done that since I started working at Northern Title 2 years ago. I am 95% certain I have IBS (acts up especially during your menstrual cycle), which was why I was so bad on Monday. My lower intestines were very sensitive to touch, which included bending over, coughing etc. It was very painful, I left work almost buckled over in pain. later realized that buckled over was the least comfortable position. After a hot bath and warm drink I felt a little better. I wasn’t much better the next day, but there was no way I could stand laying on the couch for another day. I was so sick of daytime T.V. I decided to work anyway and luckily I could sit in just the right position at work that I didn’t have to move much.

We also added 2 chickens to the family on Tuesday…we means Andrew in this case. But we also gave away all but 1 kitten (phew!) so I am pleased about that. I think we are even going to keep that one and get rid of the “wild” not as nice one that we sort of adopted.

Wednesday I got a call from Millville Elementary that asked if I would be interested in an Art Specialist position at their Elementary School! I was determined to not accept any part-time positions and have actually turned some down, but an ART teacher! I couldn’t say no. I told them I would ask my husband and at least meet with them the next day. Andrew said we probably could do it, but we would need to be able to continue working at Northern the other half of the time.

Thursday I went to the interview and it went really well, you can just tell if you connect well, which I did in this interview. They called me and offered me the job that afternoon. (P.S. School started Thursday, so they were in a bit of a rush to get this done) Unfortunately David, my boss, was out of town and I couldn’t ask him anything, which I explained to them, but told them I would take it contingent on whether I could stay at Northern.

Friday-Sunday: I was nervous in anticipation of talking to David on Monday. Andrew left me for 2 days to go scouting for Elk. Alishia and I did some family pictures for a co-worker, that I think turned out cute.

Monday: I talked to David this morning and he said he would let me know today. He seemed understanding of the situation and respected the opportunity and its importance in getting into a full-time teaching position. That brings us up to date and I have no more than 4 hours to wait to find out if I will be an official art teacher or not…sigh..it’s a killer. I have prayed about it and have felt really good about everything and felt like everything would work out fine, including the finances. J Pretty happy about it.

Cat's anyone?

Andrew and I were certain that our big mamma (cat) had hidden her kittens and then either abandoned them or they died because just as their eyes were opening they disappeared and we never saw them again, even the mamma we didn't see for a bit but after a week or so we saw her all the time. We had our other cat bulging at the seams so my dissapointment of not getting to see the kitties was remedied with knowing we would get to see more soon. Today we heard some mewing in the garage and found that our little mamma had her kittens and had hid them behind the garbage bins, but that was not all we found, we found the original 4 kittens. 10 folks, that is right, we now have 10 kittens on our hands.....anybody want one?

We don't dump our garbage every week because we don't need to, so I don't know how long they were there, but I will tell you what those mammas are going to get fixed as soon as we can get them into the vet. As much of a hassle as it will be to give them away, I have to say they are SO CUTE!