Soooo... If you live in the STL, you know how crazy weather was today. Only in the midwest would you have 60+ degree weather a week after Christmas (when we got like 3 inches of snow), combined with tornadic activity. Craaaaaazy, I tell ya. The boys and I packed it in in the bathroom in case a tornado actually hit. I have NEVER done well with tornado warnings, and I was by myself today because J was at work. I streamed the weather off of KTVI and kept checking Facebook for updates from friends in the area. Here's a picture from our adventures (please note Facebook up on the computer, LOL)
Anyway, if you were with me last December 31st/January 1st, you may remember my New Years' Resolutions for 2010. I would say I didn't fail miserably on most of them.
1. Start compiling my 101 in 1001 list.
Didn't follow through with this one bit. I have some ideas, but I haven't written anything down. Hopefully I'll get with this this year. 2. Have at least one REAL date night with my husband a month.
This didn't happen, either, though we did probably manage nice evenings out a few times this year, including our trip to Memphis. 3. Read at least four books on youth ministry.
I didn't read 4 books on youth ministry, but I did read 4 books on Christianity or youth ministry:
We did manage to pay of 2 credit cards this year. I am thinking about reexamining our approach to how we pay everything off. We're currently doing the snowball effect that Dave Ramsey writes about, which is AWESOME. We should have our third card paid off by the beginning of May with the momentum we have right now, but I want to use our entire tax return towards credit cards so that will hopefully change. 5. Buy a car for J.
Success! We bought J a 2005 Nissan Sentra in March. It's a stick and I just recently learned how to drive it. 6. GET A JOB.
Success on this one, too. In fact, I went above and beyond and got TWO jobs this year, LOL. I was hired to teach 2's in O'Fallon in February and I did that until the beginning of December and then I was hired to teach Pre-K at a school in Maryland Heights. I did quit 2 jobs, though: subbing for the FZ school district and my job at the bookstore (this one I'm really going to miss mostly just for the people I work with), and I discontinued my affiliation with one of my sitting agencies.
Well, 3 1/2 out of 6 ain't bad! I'm going to come up with some for the new year and post those tomorrow. One is really ambitious and I'm still working up the courage to commit. =)
It's definitely been an interesting year in 2010, to say the least. Here's a recap of everything that's been going on:
January
I had an interview on the 8th for a position with Youth in Need. I didn't get it, unfortunately. But it was my last rejection before getting my job as a 2's teacher
in O'Fallon in February.
Paulie and Sebastian started to really warm up to each other, but Sebs still felt like our house was Paulie's house.
February
I turned 24 and got a job on the same day. This job was teaching 2's in O'Fallon and I enjoyed it for most of the time I was there -- more on that later. Honestly, I was grateful I had fulltime employment.
We also moved out of our townhouse in Maryland Heights to a condo in St. Peters at the end of the month. The move was especially good for the boys, because the place wasn't inundated with Paulie smells. Sebastian really started coming out of his shell once we moved.
March
J and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. We didn't do anything too special, mostly because we were broke. Our small group gave us a ream of paper and a package of paper towels, and another couple gave us a book of stamps (because the first anniversary is paper. ha ha ha).
J and I also bought a car this month. It was soooo nice to go back to having 2 cars -- the freedom we got after that was wonderful.
April
I went to an amazing place in Georgia for the first of 2 mission trips this year. God really planted something in my heart while I was there that I've discussed with J and a couple of other people, but not something I want to share on here just yet. I know it's a God thing, but we're praying for the right time to follow through with it to reveal itself.
May
Nothing really too exciting happened -- my friend Katie got married and I bought a new camera.
Our youth service was a lot of fun and my kids did the Lifehouse Everything human video thing:
June
I helped out with our Egypt VBS at church which was alot of fun, especially because M joined us for that. My favorite girl turned *4* which I still find incredibly hard to believe -- she'll be starting Kindergarten next fall!!
July
I went with our high school youth group on mission trip #2 to West Virginia. This was a whole lot of fun and West Virginia is absolutely GORGEOUS. If you've never been, I highly recommend you visit. (Side note: I just realized I never wrote about this trip. Oops. I'll see if I can pull something together.)
August
I started not liking my job. At that point it was mostly an issue with the administration and not the kids, and eventually it got better for a little while. I did get a lot of way cute photos of my kids this month, though.
We had a fun pool party to commemorate the end of the summer with youth group.
September
I donated $20 to charity:water after I got 4 responses to a post where I pledged $1 for each comment. My new co-teacher suit and by the end of the month, it was me and 8 kids.
October
I basically had run of my own class. It was me and 8 2 year olds every day this month and I LOVED it. Let's face it, I work best by myself sometimes and I really got those kids in a routine that worked well and the class ran smoothly. This was probably the best month I had at that job because my classroom was MY classroom.
My friend Ashley moved to Minnesota at the end of the month and I still miss her loads.
I interviewed for a pre-K position at a brand new school that I didn't get. I cried for about half an hour after I read that e-mail and then told myself that God would lead
me to the right position at the right time.
November
I got a new co-teacher at work and while the first week or so was great, I realized how bored and unhappy I was teaching 2's and as a result I started resenting her.
I saw Harry Potter at midnight because I'm a nerd.
I had my first interview for a different pre-K position (the one I ultimately got). You can read about my initial impressions of the school on this post.
Thanksgiving was pretty low-key. I babysat waaaaay early in the morning and then put up our tree. I worked at the book store on Black Friday and had a lot of fun (seriously... we're so busy and get to talk to so many people I never realize that I've been working for 7.5 hours).
December
I had my second interview for my job on the day we left for Christmas in Memphis. I met with L, the other teacher, and we hit it off right away. I left knowing that that job was mine.
In Memphis, the weather was really nice, so J and I went to the zoo. This totally made my year because you know what they have at the Memphis zoo? Panda bears. And you know what my favorite animal is? That's right: Panda bears. I was soooo excited to see a real live panda.
Tuesday after we returned from Memphis, I quit my job. I was 98% sure this new job was mine and I was just at the end of my rope. I loved how sweet my kids were most of the time, but I was tired of changing diapers and making sure they didn't bite each other and keeping them occupied every second of the day. I felt like I was a babysitter and not a teacher, and it didn't help that my teaching style clashed with my new co-teacher's (and since I don't like confrontation, I just seethed internally). After I quit I had a few hours of "Omigod, what did I just do" but honestly, I felt mostly at peace with the decision. The following Thursday, I got my new job as a pre-K teacher. I'm actually TEACHING and I love it so far. I'll start full time next week.
A bad sinus infection knocked me on my rear the weekend before Christmas. I had a temperature of 101+ for most of the weekend and I ended up having to call in on my first day of work. My doctor told me to buy some Mucinex D to help clear my sinuses. Have you ever used that stuff? IT WORKS.
SO that's it. Tomorrow I'll update on my resolutions for the year and let you know what I want to accomplish in 2011. =)
J and I just got home from our Christmas Eve service, which was beautiful. I love singing "Silent Night" by candle light. Makes me cry every year. =)
This video has been making the rounds, but just in case anyone hasn't seen it, I wanted to share it. It's put out by Igniter Media, who does a lot of the videos we show at church for service. It's the Nativity through Facebook. (What if Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, Zechariah, the Shepherds, etc, all had Facebook?)
May you and your family be blessed this Christmas!
...Instead I'm at home in bed. I had a 102* fever on Friday and a fever all weekend, fluctuating between 98 and 102. Talk about YUCK. And, I still had to work because it's the weekend before Christmas and she had everyone scheduled, thus no one who could take my shift. So I sucked it up, took some Mucinex and Tylenol, and tried to be positive. But last night I felt like death so I called in.
I felt terrible about it but the director, G, was really understanding. She said she knows I wouldn't call in if I weren't actually sick. I went to the doctor this morning and it's not the flu (which is what I thought it was) but probably just a BAD sinus infection. I don't remember having a fever with any of my sinus infections before, but whatever... I took my first dose of antibiotics and Mucinex D a few hours ago and I already feel better -- and my fever broke.
G said I can definitely come in tomorrow since I'm on an antibiotic, then mentioned she's got a 3's teacher in there right now and my new coteacher, L, said she misses me. In only 8 hours, she's comfortable with me! She said that the kids stay calm when I'm around, LOL. It's nice to know that she enjoys working with me. =)
And here's a funny story: Last night, I fell asleep sitting up so I could breathe after eating some chicken noodle soup. Paulie at some point hopped up on the couch and pawed at me. Next thing I know he's on the coffee table, lapping up the soup broth. What a punk! That was either a, "Hey, are you sleeping 'cause I really want that broth but I know you won't just give it to me." Or is was a, "Hey, are you gonna finish that 'cause I could take it off of your hands...." Ha ha. Silly kitty.
Yes, you read that right. I took a leap of faith and put in my two weeks. There's actually a story behind it; my director said that "my attitude was no longer acceptable" because apparently I was being rude to everyone. Whatever. No, I wasn't happy there, but some of the things they brought up to me were so trivial and things that I had done only ONCE in the last month or so let alone in the whole 10 months I worked there. They told me I could "voluntarily resign" or I would be put on a probation, and basically if they had to "speak to me again" I would be put on a sub list (which =FIRED). SO I filled out the voluntary resignation and put in my two weeks and they sent me home.
Then they called three hours later and told me that my classroom was covered and not to worry about coming back in.
What pissed me off the most, even more than how they treated me and how they handled it all, was that I didn't even get to say goodbye to my kids. Not even C, the little girl who was my favorit
e (although I did get to give her a hug when I went back for all of my stuff). And I worry about what crap they're telling the parents about why I left.
Anyway, I had my third and final interview this morning at the center I mentioned 4 weeks ago in this post. I got to teach a phonics lesson (Phonics Dominoes, which were a hit) and then spend a lot of the morning just watching and helping out where I could. I knew this job was mine because the director was so willing to work around my work schedule (and, listen, I have two jobs, so sometimes that was hard) which means almost a whole month went by between my first interview and my interview today. That's probably why I was so... whatever... about losing the job in O'Fallon. I knew I wouldn't be out
of work for long.
I was right. I got the call this afternoon inviting me to the team. I'm so pumped about this job. Teaching the phonics lesson this morning put me back in love with teaching. It totally reminded me WHY I want to teach.
I start fulltime on January 4 (they're closed the week between Christmas and New Years) but I get to work 4 hours next week and 20 the week after. I can't WAIT!!!
