Thursday, March 13, 2014
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Yesterday and Today
A few things can be noted about yesterday and today.
Yesterday was awesome for three reasons: (1) it was freaking beautiful; (2) I found out I have a certain benefit for working in my daughter's school district and don't have to pay for before and after school care for the rest of the year (woo-hoo!); (3) a friend who I haven't talked to in awhile messaged me.
Today is pretty awesome too. Again, it's freaking beautiful. The kids have swim lessons today and it's so fun to watch them. I feel a little bad that neither kid can swim or ride a bike. Do you know how I learned to swim? I jumped off a boat into the lake. I guess I just knew I could. And you know how I learned to ride a bike? I went to the very top of a down hill, concrete drive way and just rode. I never owned a helmet. I think my kids are sheltered, but that's how I like them. Also, today is good because I'm subbing for high school (not always a good thing) and everyone is on a field trip so I only have to monitor a few students and I'm getting a ton of studying done. I'm pretty embarrassed about how rusty I am in grammar. Don't judge me for my blog posts and Facebook statuses because I don't pay as much attention, but it's nice to refresh on the many ways to use and not to use a comma. I always thought I at least would always understand and remember nouns. A noun is just a person, place, or thing...right? WRONG. It can also be an abstraction or idea. Yup. Never heard that one in all my years of school. It really doesn't matter how much I refresh. I will always think in my mind there is probably something wrong with every sentence I type/write.
There are a couple things on my mind that could make the next few days not as awesome. First, I'm waiting to see how I scored on the writing section of my first test. I passed the multiple choice but it takes longer to grade the essay and if I failed I have to retake the entire thing! I'm also waiting to find out if I did or didn't get the teaching position with SJSD. Call me insecure, but I'm kind of thinking I didn't. There are only 2 positions, I'm not certified yet, and I probably awkwardly fumbled at least two answers in the interview. But you never know; maybe I rocked what I did know. I'm hoping I get a big fat YES on at least one of the issues above because it will help me survive the NO of the other. The only thing worse would be the return of winter. That would crush my soul.
Happy Taco Tuesday! I recommend eating a Taco to make your day awesome; preferably from Taco Bell.
And I'm outty.
Yesterday was awesome for three reasons: (1) it was freaking beautiful; (2) I found out I have a certain benefit for working in my daughter's school district and don't have to pay for before and after school care for the rest of the year (woo-hoo!); (3) a friend who I haven't talked to in awhile messaged me.
Today is pretty awesome too. Again, it's freaking beautiful. The kids have swim lessons today and it's so fun to watch them. I feel a little bad that neither kid can swim or ride a bike. Do you know how I learned to swim? I jumped off a boat into the lake. I guess I just knew I could. And you know how I learned to ride a bike? I went to the very top of a down hill, concrete drive way and just rode. I never owned a helmet. I think my kids are sheltered, but that's how I like them. Also, today is good because I'm subbing for high school (not always a good thing) and everyone is on a field trip so I only have to monitor a few students and I'm getting a ton of studying done. I'm pretty embarrassed about how rusty I am in grammar. Don't judge me for my blog posts and Facebook statuses because I don't pay as much attention, but it's nice to refresh on the many ways to use and not to use a comma. I always thought I at least would always understand and remember nouns. A noun is just a person, place, or thing...right? WRONG. It can also be an abstraction or idea. Yup. Never heard that one in all my years of school. It really doesn't matter how much I refresh. I will always think in my mind there is probably something wrong with every sentence I type/write.
There are a couple things on my mind that could make the next few days not as awesome. First, I'm waiting to see how I scored on the writing section of my first test. I passed the multiple choice but it takes longer to grade the essay and if I failed I have to retake the entire thing! I'm also waiting to find out if I did or didn't get the teaching position with SJSD. Call me insecure, but I'm kind of thinking I didn't. There are only 2 positions, I'm not certified yet, and I probably awkwardly fumbled at least two answers in the interview. But you never know; maybe I rocked what I did know. I'm hoping I get a big fat YES on at least one of the issues above because it will help me survive the NO of the other. The only thing worse would be the return of winter. That would crush my soul.
Happy Taco Tuesday! I recommend eating a Taco to make your day awesome; preferably from Taco Bell.
And I'm outty.
Friday, February 28, 2014
For Uncle Bill
My family lost a great man this week, greater than I ever really knew. Uncle Bill is the husband of my grandma's twin sister (both my grandma and her sister married very talented artists). He is my mom's uncle, my great uncle but I always thought of him as a grandpa-the only grandpa I ever really knew. He raised an amazing family and was an important part of St. Joseph history-a very talented man.
As we get older it seems death occurs more and more often and closer to home. It's a sad, confusing chain of thoughts. But I think we are not really grieving those who are gone. We are grieving ourselves. We are grieving what our life will be missing because that person isn't a part of it anymore.
We all know that we're going to die and that everyone around us is going to die. But I don't think we ever totally grasp that today could be our last day or the last day we'll ever see a loved one alive. Death is always sudden, even when expected. Death always leaves you wishing you had one more hug, one more chance to say, I love you. Death is hard and dark, but only for those of us who are left behind. So whenever there is a death I try to take comfort in the fact that even though I am sad and feeling lost they are not. Their spirit is free and happy.
I miss you Uncle Bill. And I do wish I could hug you just one more time.
Obituary
**If you're ever curious just how talented Uncle Bill was, take a look at the amazing paintings in the conference room at the Remington Nature Center in St. Joseph. When no one is in there I like to go in and admire them**
As we get older it seems death occurs more and more often and closer to home. It's a sad, confusing chain of thoughts. But I think we are not really grieving those who are gone. We are grieving ourselves. We are grieving what our life will be missing because that person isn't a part of it anymore.
We all know that we're going to die and that everyone around us is going to die. But I don't think we ever totally grasp that today could be our last day or the last day we'll ever see a loved one alive. Death is always sudden, even when expected. Death always leaves you wishing you had one more hug, one more chance to say, I love you. Death is hard and dark, but only for those of us who are left behind. So whenever there is a death I try to take comfort in the fact that even though I am sad and feeling lost they are not. Their spirit is free and happy.
I miss you Uncle Bill. And I do wish I could hug you just one more time.
Obituary
**If you're ever curious just how talented Uncle Bill was, take a look at the amazing paintings in the conference room at the Remington Nature Center in St. Joseph. When no one is in there I like to go in and admire them**
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Merry Late Christmas
Here are some Christmas pictures because I feel like it. :)
And here's one because my cat is really cute.
And here's one because my cat is really cute.
More Snow? REALLY?
UM YEAH. I'm pretty much over this whole Winter thing. Seriously, the only thing that gets me through it are pictures like these wiht my fancy new camera.
The Rest of My Life
Besides subbing and studying I have been hanging out with my kids and trying to improve my life style habits. I’ve been eating better and exercising for a little over a week and already seeing an improvement. I haven’t stayed this strong since I was on weight watchers a few years ago and I think the difference is that Charles is on board with me AND I’ve done it long enough that it’s getting easier. Have you ever heard of T25? It’s a crazy hard work out that you do 25 minutes a day. Charles and I have been doing it in the living room every night. I’m not craving bad food so hard and the exercises are getting easier. I’ve said it a million times before and I don’t want to let myself down again but so far I’m feeling good and I think we can do it. I hope we WILL.
I’ve had a lot of friendship changes in the last year and my social life is definitely suffering. I miss my friends. I think part of that has to do with not working a full time job and living in Platte City away from anyone I used to see. I get a little lonely sometimes but I think things will change when my life settles down and quits changing so often. Isn’t it so hard to make friends and keep friends when you’re an adult?
My house SOLD. It was a long, annoying process. We did it to help pay some debt and start over. Right now we rent a duplex and plan on buying a house again in a couple years.
I still have big dreams of settling down in the perfect house, getting and keeping a really great job, adopting a child, taking a lot more family vacations, and just maintaining a more positive outlook on life and passing that onto my children. Sometimes I look back at who I was when I was 20 and I can’t believe the ways I’ve grown and how I’ve changed. Hudson is in school again and lately he has been coming home and saying to me, “Mommy, it’s okay to make mistakes. That’s what my teacher told me.” Yes, Hudson, thank you for reminding me. It’s okay to make mistakes.
I’ve had a lot of friendship changes in the last year and my social life is definitely suffering. I miss my friends. I think part of that has to do with not working a full time job and living in Platte City away from anyone I used to see. I get a little lonely sometimes but I think things will change when my life settles down and quits changing so often. Isn’t it so hard to make friends and keep friends when you’re an adult?
My house SOLD. It was a long, annoying process. We did it to help pay some debt and start over. Right now we rent a duplex and plan on buying a house again in a couple years.
I still have big dreams of settling down in the perfect house, getting and keeping a really great job, adopting a child, taking a lot more family vacations, and just maintaining a more positive outlook on life and passing that onto my children. Sometimes I look back at who I was when I was 20 and I can’t believe the ways I’ve grown and how I’ve changed. Hudson is in school again and lately he has been coming home and saying to me, “Mommy, it’s okay to make mistakes. That’s what my teacher told me.” Yes, Hudson, thank you for reminding me. It’s okay to make mistakes.
I'm Going to be a Teacher!
Here I am blogging again! I feel a lot better since the demise of my last job. Right now I’m substitute teaching for two districts and studying for an alternative teaching certification route (if you have your bachelors and want to be a teacher-ask me about it). It’s not easy and having basically one income for all this time has been a learning experience and a challenge. I have had faith that we would be fine and I guess faith goes a long ways because somehow we have paid our bills. I seriously don’t understand how we did it some months…but we did. It’s no less stressful, but we did it.
I have passed the Professional Teaching Knowledge test and now I’m studying for the English Language Art’s test. I’m already interviewing for Fall positions and really hoping someone will look past the fact that I’m not certified yet and not going the traditional route. If things go as planned I will be finished by May and certified over the Summer.
A part of me has always wanted to be a teacher. I have never felt confident enough or smart enough to pass on my knowledge to kids. Lately I have been brave and trying things. I was terrified to be a sub-but I did it. I was terrified to sub high school kids-but I did it. I was terrified to start this program-but I did it and I’m 1/3 of the way done (way faster than most)! I want to be a teacher for the kids who were like me growing up. I want to be at least the one person in their lives that encourages them and believes in them. I know it’s hard work and the pay isn’t awesome but I think it will be rewarding enough to keep me strong. The summers and holidays are a nice benefit. They are not the reason I want to teach but they definitely give me the time I need for myself to thrive and something to look forward to-not something you get with a normal job.
I have passed the Professional Teaching Knowledge test and now I’m studying for the English Language Art’s test. I’m already interviewing for Fall positions and really hoping someone will look past the fact that I’m not certified yet and not going the traditional route. If things go as planned I will be finished by May and certified over the Summer.
A part of me has always wanted to be a teacher. I have never felt confident enough or smart enough to pass on my knowledge to kids. Lately I have been brave and trying things. I was terrified to be a sub-but I did it. I was terrified to sub high school kids-but I did it. I was terrified to start this program-but I did it and I’m 1/3 of the way done (way faster than most)! I want to be a teacher for the kids who were like me growing up. I want to be at least the one person in their lives that encourages them and believes in them. I know it’s hard work and the pay isn’t awesome but I think it will be rewarding enough to keep me strong. The summers and holidays are a nice benefit. They are not the reason I want to teach but they definitely give me the time I need for myself to thrive and something to look forward to-not something you get with a normal job.
I feel like I have taken so long to figure out where I want to go but I just tell myself to ignore that voice and keep pushing. I mean geesh… I’m still in my twenties. Some people never figure out what they want to do with their lives. I’ll be 38 when my daughter graduates high school and have lots of time to really focus on my work. Aren’t you jealous? Here’s to a new beginning!
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